The Prince Of Darkness
by Silent Songbird
Summary: "The greatest trick the devil pulled was convincing the world that there was only one of him." At the peak of the Fourth Shinobi World War, the final battle between Uchiha Sasuke and Uzumaki Naruto ends in the death of the former. A hasty decision of atonement by the Last Uchiha in the afterlife, unravels a consequence both unforeseen and utterly unexpected.
1. Prologue

_**A/N:**_ **I do not own Naruto or High School DxD.**

* * *

 **The Prince of Darkness**

 **Prologue**

* * *

Earth-shaking strikes which tore asunder the foundation of the world; Heaven sundering beams and spheres which distorted the skies to display a cornucopia of lights. The average viewer would be lost in the sheer beauty caused by the battle which had re-shaped the landscape forever, and left its scar permanently on the soil which would never see life again. Even as the skies where saturated with colors and chakra, and the earth was uprooted from itself and scattered across the winds like a leaf caught in a blizzard, two figures had continuously battled against each other, in their final showdown, moving faster than eyes could track, faster than sound could follow, with each and every clash resulting in more devastating chaos.

But all things must come to an end.

The two men, both having their respective arms blown off from their final attack, one stood above the other, staring blankly at where there was a spiral mark on the other's chest that had tore open the skin and ruined the ribcage, leaving a faintly beating heart visible.

"So… in the end, I couldn't beat you Naruto" the man on the ground coughed as his breaths became labored. He was out of Chakra, out of stamina and out of willpower.

The second man grits his teeth and clenched his one remaining arm hard enough for it to draw blood. He let out a roar to the sky as he began punching the earth, over and over again.

"It wasn't supposed to be this way!" he said "It was never supposed to end this way Sasuke! After everything, after all that we've been through!

"It was always going to end this way." Sasuke coughed "Either I killed you, or you killed me. There is no middle-ground."

"No! We could've-"

"We could've what?" Sasuke asked "I'm wanted as an international criminal. I was part of the Akatsuki. I turned my back on the village and I have the same last name as the man who started a war simply because he couldn't handle the fact that his crush died."

"You helped seal Kaguya! You helped stop the war! They have to under-"

"Not everyone is as understanding as you Naruto." Sasuke said "No one will forget what I did simply because you vouched for me, if I did return to Konoha, I would be an outcast forever."

"But you're not like that anymore! You've changed!"

Had he? Naruto's words had never gotten through to him. Words had never been his strong suit as an Uchiha; he always expressed himself in actions. But Naruto's fists had finally communicated to him the message he should have understood long ago. The blond was more than just an annoying teammate or a pest, no; he was an equal, a rival, a friend.

A brother.

Irony, Sasuke noted. It was only when he had realized that Naruto was a brother to him, was someone who had unshakable faith and determination in him, that was when he was about to die, at his hand. The parallel between his situation and that of him and Itachi was so similar, that Sasuke couldn't help but manage a smile on his face. It was a genuine smile, which did not go unnoticed by the blond.

"We both had messed up lives didn't we Naruto?" Sasuke said "I had everything, and yet I lost it, and you had nothing, but in the end, you've gained everything."

His entire life, he had been played like a puppet, manipulated into doing others biddings from the very moment he wanted to become a shinobi. He had been manipulated by Itachi into hating him, manipulated by Orochimaru into willingly becoming his student, manipulated by Danzo and by Obito. It was as though his path was pre-destined ever since, and ultimately, this was the outcome. Killed and defeated by the one person who could have understood him. It was ironic, how their roles could have been so easily reversed, and he would have been the one standing over Naruto's body, and lamenting about how things could have ended differently.

But things hadn't turned out differently. And even has his life flashed before his eyes, and as he recalled all his choices ever made, all based on anger and hate and rage, he realized where he had gone wrong.

Everything could have gone so differently.

If Obito had never attacked Konoha with the Kyubi, if the suspicion hadn't gone on to the Uchiha clan; if his father had never brought about the idea for the coup, if Itachi hadn't been one hundred per cent loyal to the village, if Danzo had never ordered the massacre and if Itachi had simply told him the truth.

 _If, If, If_. The blame could go to anyone or anywhere, but there were no more ifs, his choices had been made, and here he lay, ready to face the music for what had been his own error in judgment, for what had been his own mistakes.

"Hey Naruto," Sasuke said "I think you'll make a great Hokage."

The teary-eyed blond, shook his head. All he ever wanted from Sasuke was acknowledgement as his equal and rival, but this was never the way he wanted to achieve it. This wasn't how he had pictured it. "How can I become the Hokage when I can't even fulfill a promise to bring my best friend back to the village?"

"I'd like to be buried beside my parents." Naruto gave him a glance at the seemingly weird change of topic "You promised Sakura you'd bring me back didn't you?"

Yes he did promise her that. He just never specified how he'd be bringing Sasuke back – Dead or Alive. At the very least, Sasuke would have finally been brought back to Konoha, and Naruto's promise would be fulfilled.

The blond wiped the tears from his eyes with his one remaining arm and regained a faux smile "Yeah. So I guess I will end up bringing you back to Konoha." His grin finally seemed to come back in place "And I'll be the best Hokage Konoha has ever seen. Believe it!"

Sasuke rolled his eyes, feeling his strength finally leaving him. "Dobe."

"Teme."

The two laughed like old friends, and for a moment, they had forgotten the circumstances around them. The betrayals and battles, the conflict and chaos, and all through it, the understanding bond that kept them connected.

It was with a final breath that Uchiha Sasuke closed his eyes and whispered under his breath "Thank you Naruto. For everything."

With those five final words, the last living Uchiha on the face of the earth ceased to be.

Redemption was something that demands that you seek forgiveness for your past misdeeds. That you atone for your actions; that you acknowledge that you could, in fact, be wrong.

Perhaps if he had more time, but then again, perhaps not. Redemption was a rare and special thing after all; it was not for just anyone.

But then again, he was Uchiha Sasuke; he wasn't _just_ anyone.

* * *

~~~~~ The Prince of Darkness ~~~~~

Cold and darkness intertwined. The absence of heat and the absence of life; he knew he was dead, even as he walked through the darkness, and saw all around him, shinobi who had fought through the war and had been the casualties, gently strolling along, each on their own path, and none paying attention to the rest.

"Weak. Pitifully weak. To consider you an Uchiha is an insult to the clan."

There they were, the final two Uchiha, Obito and Madara, squabbling amongst themselves in the darkness. The soul of the final Uchiha had seemingly returned to the land of the dead, and there was a part of Sasuke, that felt the unbridled rage at seeing the duo.

Obito might have changed his ways, but Sasuke would never forget that it was due to the convoluted plans of these two men that his life had been ruined.

He felt for his chakra, and found nothing. Of course, he was dead, and chakra was an attribute of the living. But there was the energy there, the raw and untamed spiritual energy, which had not yet fully dispersed, he was only dead for a few seconds after all, and it would soon vanish afterwards.

It would be enough.

He summoned whatever was left of the spiritual essence within him, and lunged. There was no killing intent, no overwhelming pressure, no sound, nor wind, just the complete and total surprise of the enraged soul of Uchiha Sasuke extending his one usable hand forward to pierce the chest of Madara Uchiha.

Obito jumped back in surprise "S-Sasuke?"

The entire reason the war had escalated was because there were techniques which could be utilized to bring back the dead and people like Madara from the Impure World. His body had been taken over by Kaguya, but his soul had returned here, and Sasuke would forever prevent Madara's soul from being revived.

He grasped at what he assumed was the 'core' of the soul inside of the stunned man, and proceeded to rip it out and crush it within the palm of his hand.

The image of Madara twisted into one of shock, surprise and then, strangely enough, acknowledgement and respect.

" _You,_ are a true Uchiha."

Those were the only words he had uttered before he had dispersed into particles and vanished completely from existence.

Sasuke shook his head at the cryptic words before he rendered his gaze on Obito, who could tell quite frankly, that he was his next target.

He wasn't Naruto. He wouldn't forgive Obito, the man who was an unwitting pawn that had caused a war and ruined his entire life, simply because his crush had been killed by Kakashi. No, if anything, he deserved to be eliminated for starting a war for such petty reasons.

He attempted to strike out, only for him to be stopped by a massive corporeal being, wielding a blade, with white hair and fanged teeth. The being, as he had correctly assumed, was none other than the Shinigami itself.

" **Do you know what you have just done?** " the voice of the massive being bellowed across the darkness but Sasuke did not back down. He could deal with whatever punishment the Shinigami could give him later, for now, he felt the small doze of spiritual energy he still had waning, and if he didn't use it soon, he would become powerless like the rest of the souls in the place.

Rather than answer the Shinigami, Sasuke dashed forward with whatever energy he had left, and lunged at Obito with his hand extended, intending fully well to crush the soul of the man just as he had did with Madara.

He was met with the sword of the Shinigami about to bisect him in two.

Dodging was impossible, and all that he could do was either block or counter, but the being was incorporeal, and the blade would possibly sever his soul as well. So what was he to do?'

It was an idea, a completely crazy idea that sprung out of nowhere, but all the same Sasuke raised his hand to meet the incoming sword.

"Human Path."

It would be the results of that idea, that would forever change the world as it was known.

Sasuke only had spiritual energy available to him, yet, he summoned upon that spiritual energy to use the one power of the Rinnegan that he had deemed useless in his fight against Naruto. The Human Path had the power to read minds by stealing the souls of humans, but what would happen if he had activated it with _raw,_ unfiltered spiritual energy against a massive incorporeal being that was said to be the avatar of death?

The result was the _bloody_ _Shinigami_ letting out an ear-piercing screech that Sasuke was sure could have shattered glass. The last Uchiha _absorbed_ the sword of the Shinigami, and then proceeded to absorb the _Shinigami_ itself, as Sasuke's mind was tormented with billions of flashing images of deaths, and thousands of memories all pumping through him within seconds.

Fortunately or unfortunately, he was already dead, so he couldn't die again from the information overload that would have left the brains of mortal men a steaming pile of flesh had they ever attempted to perform something as completely stupid as absorbing the shinigami.

Sasuke collapsed and Obito rapidly took this as his chance to flee from the younger Uchiha, lest he suffer the same faith as the avatar of death.

Had he stayed any longer, he would have noticed an extremely tall skeletal figure move over the Uchiha's soul and vanish with it.

* * *

~~~~~ The Prince of Darkness ~~~~~

"Tell me Hades, to what do I owe this unexpected visit?" the voice belonged to a woman, who could only be described as indescribably beautiful. With pale skin that was as white as snow, elegant black hair, casually dressed in loose fitting robes and jeans with an ankh necklace on her neck, she had the air of a goddess.

"Death-sama, I believe I have something that might interest you."

The body of a boy was tossed forward, and as he hit the white of the skeletal ground, his 'consciousness' returned to him with a vengeance. He struggled to remember his name and identity amongst the several billion memories of individuals dying over and over and over again. His eyes were rolled into the back of his head, his face a calm serene blankness that one could almost mistake for retarded stupor, and all the same, he kept mumbling the names of the people that 'he' had reaped.

The being on the throne let out an amused smile "Well, isn't this a surprise."

The 'God' of Death, Hades mused alongside with the personification of demise "Quite a special one. He absorbed one of your Vanguards, the Avatar of Death in his own universe and timeline."

Death stalked down from her throne, and looked the boy into the blank eyes, "His soul is shattering. It is being flayed away by the souls of the millions that the Shinigami has reaped. He is simultaneously reliving the lives of millions of people, down to their final moments, all in a matter of seconds."

Hades made a noise of disbelief "A human soul can only take so much before it is exhausted. That much information pouring into him should have annihilated him instantaneously. Yet, he still exists."

Death laughed as she cupped the boy's face into her hands "He is from the Uchiha Clan."

"The Uchiha Clan?"

"Yes." Death said "I believe they have a technique which allows them to cram several hours or years of experience and torture into a single second. He must have been exposed to this technique several times as a human, as such; his soul is able to withstand such a feat."

Death smiled, an eerie, haunting smile as though she were a cat that had caught the canary. Ideas slowly forming within her mind, she _almost_ licked her lips in anticipation "Yes, he will do quite nicely."

The personification of Death captured the Uchiha's lips in hers, for a brief second which seemed to have lasted a small eternity, and then, like a curse had been lifted, his face shifted from it's blank, suffering state to one of slight pleasure and his pale dark eyes returned to him.

Then it took him a moment to realize he was being kissed, that he leaped back in shock and no small amount of confusion. He tried to remember who he was, and what was going on, amongst the jumbles of memories. He was a tailor, then a trader, a father, a knight, a samurai, an assassin, a woman, a boy, a girl, a lover, a friend, he was all these things and more, and it took him a while to remember, who he t _ruly_ was.

The memory lit up like a light bulb. He wished it hadn't.

He was Uchiha Sasuke.

And he was dead.

Blinking, he realized that the being in front of him was smiling, and for some reason, it made him feel insurmountably frigid. He might not exactly have displayed his preference for the fairer sex, but not even he could deny that the woman in front of him was insanely beautiful.

"Even in death, you manage to surprise me Uchiha Sasuke."

Considering the fact that, he knew next to nothing about how the undead world worked he answered honestly "You know who I am?"

"I know who everyone is." She said "However, it is not who you are that bothers me so much as what you have done."

"I have done a lot of things." He said truthfully and slightly guiltily as well "But I don't remember doing anything to offend you."

"You absorbed _my_ Shinigami. No one, neither past nor present, in any timeline nor universe has ever been able accomplish that feat."

Sasuke shrugged, his lips somehow morphing to utter the sentence "There's a first time for everything."

The being let out a shrill chuckle at the comment "Yes, I suppose there is. And as it may, you have provided me with quite a unique opportunity."

Sasuke did not like the sound of that.

"Tell me Uchiha-kun, would you like another chance at life?"

The rush of emotion that fueled him was almost impossible to describe "Another chance? But… I'm _dead_."

"You did not answer my question Uchiha Sasuke. Would you like another chance at life?"

The Uchiha's mind swam in turmoil. Perhaps, redemption would be nice. Perhaps, atoning for his various crimes in life would make him feel –– _whole_. There was so much he had done, so much he _hadn't_ done, and ultimately, to die at the age of sixteen, having made so many mistakes, and haven seen and done so little – it wasn't to be.

"Yes."

"Then that is all that is required Uchiha-kun." Death let out a small, creeping smile "Normally I am forced to partake of noting but neutrality – to sit idly and watch the repetitive flow of time as civilizations and life are remade and destroyed. But with you –"

The smile stretched further, and seemed out of place on the features of the beautiful woman.

"Oh yes, this is just perfect."

Sasuke glanced at the strange woman. There was a foreboding feeling in his gut, the same one he had usually gotten on instinct, but ignored.

"It is settled Uchiha-kun. I can return you to the land of the living, however, this entails three things." She said "First, you are not the only person lining up for rebirth. You will have to fight a thousand worthy souls, possibly more, and only if you attain victory will you gain your prize."

"Fight?'

"The powers you possessed in your life will be given unto you once more to fight."

"I see."

"Second, when you are reborn, it might be in an era that is not yours, your memories and abilities will be lost to you at first, but can be regained over time, and you might not be reborn as a human."

"I can accept that." Sasuke said, "And the third thing?"

"You will become my Avatar – the Avatar of Death."

The condition was one that held the most weight, and Sasuke felt like he was being offered a deal with the devil. But he had no choice to accept, it was either this or whatever the sad dreary afterlife had for him, and his story wasn't over yet.

Not just yet.

The _Last_ Uchiha accepted, with a slow, stiff nod, and the personification of Death tried her best from letting a magnificent smile ripple on her features.

"Hades, do take Uchiha-kun to his destination, I believe he has seen more than enough death for one lifetime."

The God of Death nodded, and in an instant, the boy and the being were no more, leaving the beautiful woman alone in her throne room.

Or so it seemed.

"Up to your tricks again aren't you?" The voice of an old man echoed, softly as though fine-tuned by the muses themselves "You forgot to tell the boy his fourth condition. The body he is to inhabit was meant for that wayward son of mine."

"It's of little consequence. Little Lu-chan has been dead for the same number of years you have, despite his peak strength during the war, I have faith in the Uchiha."

"It is unlike you to have faith of any sorts." The man said "Even more so unlike you to interrupt the flow of time. There is an order to the way the universe works my old friend. And we have both seen the outcome of what happens when one tries to alter it."

Death scowled. "I fail to remember asking to be lectured by you old geezer, be gone from my sight. Your era of prominence is at an end."

"And that is where you are wrong old friend," the old voice said, before slowly fading "If anything, it is just about to begin."

* * *

~~~~~~~ The Prince of Darkness ~~~~~~~~

Sasuke had lost count.

The Sword of his Susanoo severed thousands.

Amaterasu set legions screaming in agony.

Shinra Tensei deflected and flattened.

Kirin devoured the multitudes.

All around him, souls perished, fell, died, crumbled, and reduced to ash. Some had let out desperate pleas like the mewling of infants, others had been driven to the brinks of their sanity, and in the end, calling it a battle would have been a misnomer, rather, it was a brutal massacre.

In the end, only two souls remained, and Sasuke found himself entering a stalemate against an opponent whose strength was ridiculous, even for him.

The combatants stood far from each other, gazes locked in mutual respect.

"What is your name boy? I believe an opponent worthy enough to fight me to a standstill deserves his title to be written across the heavens."

"Uchiha Sasuke."

The Man had nodded.

"Lucifer Morningstar."

The two combatants glanced at each other, no words needed to be said.

They lunged.

And darkness became their world.

~~~~~~~~ The Prince of Darkness ~~~~~~~~~

 **The Underworld**

 **Sitri Territory**

"There's another child?!"

"How didn't we realize this?"

"It doesn't matter! Push!"

A pained groan of effort tore through the otherwise silent night-air. Short, strained gasps followed afterwards along with heavy breathing and more groans

"One more time! Push!"

The sounds reverberated in the same continuous pattern, before abruptly stopping as a new sound was thrown into the mix and drowned out everything else.

The sound of a baby's cry tore through the room and into the air, echoing its presence and it seemed as though the whole world shifted into a standstill.

A child was born.

"It's a boy!" One of the midwives said excitedly before wrapping said child in a towel, and slowly bringing him to his mother. Said mother had dark black hair that was highlighted with an ethereal ebony tint. She had royal lilac eyes that depicted one of the strongest forces in the world; the love, only a mother had for her child. Bringing her child closer to her she began to observe his features, he had a thick black hair, and similarly colored eyes which shone with a certain sense of purpose.

"What shall we call him Sitri-sama?"

Shifra Sitri glanced at the younger twin and her third child, and as she looked at the boy, she felt the strange, powerful compulsion to a name, a Japanese one for that matter, yet, it did not seem out of place.

"We shall call him Sasuke… Sasuke Sitri."

* * *

 _ **A/N:**_ **In honor of reaching the 200k word mark in DxD- GOTYE, and as a bonus Holiday story to my readers, this story is inspired by The Devil's Dark Knight and its brief revamp. Even though the author has seemingly vanished off the map, I could not stand the idea of a rare Sasuke-centric DxD xover fic being abandoned. So I decided to create mine.**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	2. Darkness Returns

**I do not own Naruto nor do I own High School DxD.**

* * *

 **The Prince of Darkness**

 **Chapter 1:**

 **Darkness Returns**

* * *

Serafall Sitri or as she was now known, Serafall Leviathan, was happy to have finally gotten little siblings. Though she had enjoyed the fun that came with being an only child, it was also a slightly very lonely existence, but all that changed when the twins, Sona and Sasuke were born.

She still remembered the day that they had been brought home, as she had held the two bundles of joy in her hands and felt a unique level of pride that being an elder sibling carried.

"I'm going to be the best nee-chan ever!" she had said to the two wrapped bundles, her dark eyes sparking with a sense of fulfilment, as she had dedicated herself to loving, caring and making sure that absolutely no harm would ever come to them.

This of course meant that she wouldn't let them do harm unto themselves, despite how often it had rapidly seemed to be the case.

Whilst her sister Sona, had been as normal as a baby can be, there had been numerous scares and concerns with her younger brother, Sasuke. For some odd reason, he had been born as a seemingly rather sickly child. He was often pale, often quiet, and at certain times, he slept so silently that it was easy to mistake him for being dead.

Eventually, he had been taken to some medical practitioners and he had been diagnosed with an abnormal genetic disorder which ran deep into his body and his brain. It was something so unheard of for devils, and something that could not be healed easily as most wounds were.

He had needed to undergo extreme surgical process.

Serafall still remembered the day with vivid clarity, as her cold, sweaty hands kept shivering as though it had been dipped in ice water, and as she kept smiling and laughing meekly throughout the entire time she had been spotted in the Hospital and greeted or asked for an autograph by an overzealous fan who was not aware of her internal turmoil.

She remembered eventually having to leave the hospital, being called upon due to her duties as a Satan. She remembered the stern, impassive face of her mother as though she was stoic philosopher whose worldview had been sculpted into granite, as the woman assured her, for the umpteenth time that Sasuke would be alright. She had nodded, stiffly, as her hands had constantly clenching and unclenching to an extent that she didn't realize when they had been marred with cuts from how deeply her nails had dug into them.

She had eventually incorporated a pair of fingerless gloves on her regular outfit in order to avoid questioning the cuts. It was a ridiculous notion, as she could have so easily had it healed, had the tiny blemishes on her otherwise flawless skin be removed.

She didn't. She didn't wish to remove it because she didn't wish to forget that day, as she grew older and hundreds of years passed, she wanted to always remember the day she had felt the fear of losing a loved one – of losing family.

In the end, the surgery had been successful, and Serafall could still remember the oddity of the situation, as she had been laughing cheerfully, while everyone around her stared, to which she wondered why. It had taken her several seconds to feel the wetness on her cheeks, and once more, she laughed it off.

She always laughed it off.

It was not to mean however, than the remaining few years of the twins' upbringing was anything less than stellar, no, if anything it was the contrary. Sasuke had proven to be a genius, mastering and grasping concepts and developing far faster than his older sister, and as soon as he could crawl, nothing was safe from his reach.

Serafall could not count the number of times she had to save him from a falling dictionary, or drag him away from the knives in the kitchen, or prevent him from reaching over the stove as though his child-like mind believed himself capable of manipulating fire.

It had gotten even odder, on one particular nightmarish occasion, to which he had somehow climbed to the tallest point in the Sitri Domain, and stared out as though he assumed himself to be some form of medieval assassin at a vantage point and surveying the entirety of a colony.

Several maids were scolded rather harshly after that particular occasion.

Not that she could blame them, the small baby had an uncanny ability to hide in plain sight and evade adults, it was downright frightening as to how his presence could be completely eliminated, and how it was almost impossible to find him when the situation occurred.

Needless to say, this had slightly made Serafall watch her younger brother's every move whenever she could.

It had of course, been five years since her brother's surgery, and the Leviathan would always make time to branch in on her siblings, getting them gifts and presents as the like, most of which would rather include… _books_.

As the Leviathan moved through the dark blue tinted corridors adorned with portraits of past ancestors on magnificent water serpents, she shook her head at the oddity of her siblings.

Sona had grown into what was easily a calm, calculating and highly inquisitive child. At age five, she shot rapid fire questions everywhere and anywhere, at adults, or people in general. She was a voracious reader, spending most of her time in the Sitri Clan library and with some of the older members. A day in which Sona did not learn something new, was a day wasted.

Sasuke however had grown into… well…

"Four hundred ninety seven, four hundred ninety eight, four hundred ninety-nine..."

Serafall face-palmed as she entered into the study room, and watched her little brother hanging from the underside of a chandelier, his legs wrapped around the swinging ornament as he did a series of upside-down sit-ups bare-chested.

His sister lay, in front of a collection of books that were meant for people twice her age, and she ignored his antics as she focused on them.

"Sasu-chan… what have I said about using the chandelier as a work-out tool?"

If the boy made heard her, he didn't seem to notice, causing the Leviathan to once more sigh.

While most five-year olds would spend their Saturday mornings sitting in front of the TV, playing around with toys and action figures and spending a huge majority of their time spiritedly inquiring about the world, Sasuke wasn't _most_ five-year olds. The boy was every bit of a genius as his twin, however, his domain of genius extended to a strange desire to train. Every minute, every second, if Sitri Sasuke wasn't training his body, he was training his magic. If he wasn't training his magic, he was training his mind. If he wasn't training his mind, he was _experimenting_ with devil abilities, and if he wasn't doing that he was consuming books about the world's history, the supernatural world, the underworld, the human realm, and even going as far as reading about other mythologies.

What made him different from his twin was the sheer drive and avarice of which Sasuke yearned to learn new things. Sona was clearly fascinated and had that child-like curiosity spurring her on, but Sasuke's desire was bordering on obsessive.

Once the boy began missing out on meals and sleep because he had let time slip by him while indulging himself in his studies, Serafall realized that _it was_ an obsession.

His body couldn't fully handle the limits he was pushing them to and if he didn't stop soon, he might end up burning himself out.

"Sasu-chan!"

The boy had dropped from the chandelier, his hair a short spiky mess in contrast to his twin's waterfall flowing strands.

"Sera-nee." He said, in one short line, nodding, before dropping to the floor and beginning a series of push-ups.

Serafall sighed. She glanced to her sister, who seemed preoccupied in her books.

"Na-chan, you're not going to give your dearest sister a hug?"

Sona looked up, adjusting her glasses for a brief second, before greeting her. "Morning Sera-nee."

Then her nose dug right back into her book.

Serafall's left eye twitched.

' _What did I do to deserve such stick-in-the-mud siblings_?'

While she was a constant ball of sunshine and win, her siblings were, in contrast, the dark moon that rarely ever showed itself. Sona was blunt and as straight to the point as you could get, and as for Sasuke, holding a conversation with him was as effective as talking to a brick wall. He spoke in brisk, short sentences which conveyed their meaning, and was generally a person of extremely few words.

"Well that's too bad, and after I convinced tou-san to let me take you two on a trip to the human world." Serafall let a small smile form unto her lips, "Oh well, looks like it's just going to be little ol' me… all alone and enjoying the features of the human world."

She turned around, taking three steps, and her smile increased when she heard the sound of little pattering feet racing after her.

Serafall really loved her siblings.

~~~~~~~~ The Prince of Darkness ~~~~~~~~

It was odd, examining the world through the eyes of an infant once more, even odder, perhaps, he wondered, was how much everything had changed.

There was a part of him that got memories, flashes here and there of a past life, of himself living in a different time, having different parents, having fought against different people – and he didn't know if these were simply dreams, or some sort of memories, that he was _reincarnated_ for some reason – though, he didn't remember what.

Certain names however, remained strong and concurrent in his memory, names like Naruto and Itachi… for whatever reason, simply could not be forgotten.

When he thought of the former, there was a sense of envy which he could not explain, likewise, a deep sense of connection and respect. The second name brought forth a sense of despair, yet, likewise, a sense of comfort which was oddly paradoxical.

Sasuke wasn't sure what any of this meant, all he knew, was that there was some part of him that felt like an old soul living in a young body. There was a part of him that gave him that strong, overwhelming desire to be free, to go out and explore, to, for some odd reason, do _good_ , to do good in hopes of atoning for a great and evil sin.

He could not even recall what the sin was, nor did he have any clue, as to what it was supposed to be.

Alas, this sense of exploration, and this strong desire to wander, had put him in his current predicament.

He stared around the large empty park, somehow having being separated from his twin and their older sister, as his feet had moved on their own, and now, even as he gazed at the children running around and playing, and at the numerous parents laughing and discussing away, the dogs catching Frisbees and the occasional father and son playing ball, he could not help but feel… _detached_.

It was like there was a metaphorical glass screen between him and them, a barrier formed due to his own distaste and frustration at the fact that they would not be able to relate with his thoughts and his wishes. He tried socializing, and the only one close enough to understand him was his twin, yet, even she had merely taken a shallow sip out of a vast ocean.

Sasuke felt unease with the world, he loved it, yet, he could not be a part of it.

He felt that everything and everyone around him existed in a world that was made from glass, it seemed to catch upon the rays of the sun and glimmered so happily, but in truth, it was but a mere distorted reflection of the reality – one which could be shattered as easily, as a ball through glass.

The young Sitri's attention was drawn by physical object of his thoughts – a ball which rolled to a stop directly at his feet. He stared at it, strangely musing the object, and part of him wondered of what purpose there was to the instrument. A tool for fun? To engage in physical sporting activities as a means of furthering good personal health and fostering interpersonal relations?

"Hey!"

He looked up, strangely, finding a boy – no, wait, a girl whose appearance deeply resembled that of a boy and had almost fooled him for a brief second due to her tomboyish looking nature.

"Pass the ball!"

Sasuke's head tilted slightly at the request, before he pointed to himself. Was she actually talking to him? He glanced to his left and right to see if there were any other people she was referring to, and on finding none, he accurately assumed that the imperative was designated towards him.

"Yeah! The ball!"

Sasuke looked down at the dusty, worn looking ball that had been frayed over, and reluctantly, he picked it up, holding it in his hands for a few seconds, before he tossed it at her general direction.

It soared past her, tearing through the air like it had been shot out of a cannon, and vanishing off into the distance.

The girl, with her short brown hair stared at him for a few seconds, her eyes widening, and Sasuke mentally decided that it was time to leave, only for her to leap towards him in an emotion he was only used to seeing from his sister, Serafall.

Excitement.

"That was cooool! How'd you do that?"

Sasuke let himself shrug, it would be beyond ridiculous of him to not be able to accomplish such a simple feat when his eldest sister was the strongest female devil in existence.

"Come on! Tell me! I haven't seen you around here before! Are you new? Did you just move in?"

Sasuke shook his head, slowly, finding it uncomfortable as to how the perky girl had invaded his personal space and was staring at him like a rabid fan would often stare at his sister.

"I'm… Sasuke."

He said at last, mentally patting himself on the back for initializing the first act of social development, introducing his name, but making sure to leave out his surname in case of any possibility of someone targeting him.

"Nice ta meet ya Sasook!"

He felt a stab of irritation at her mispronouncing his name, but didn't let it show. She was probably of the same age as him, and it was not often that people in his age had proper control and mastery of their speech patterns.

"Sasuke." He repeated, adding emphasis on the final two syllables.

She nodded, neither trying nor intending on using the proper pronunciation. "I'm Irina! I live around here, but I'll be moving to Rome with tou-san soon! It's kinda sad, I'm going to miss all my friends an' –"

She droned on, and Sasuke found himself marveling. Were social interactions supposed to be direct massive dumps of information?He had assumed that there was some sort of deep, aching frustration with how long it takes to get to know someone. He had always wished the entire process was in reverse, that he could start with exchanging ones deepest secrets first, before easing into casualness, until he'd built up enough mystery over the years to ask them where they're from, and what they do for a living.

"Ah, Sasook-chan, come on, join me an' play!"

Sasuke ignored the mispronunciation once more. "Play?"

His mind examined over the word – play, a performance, an act, a form of make-belief which was intrinsically separated from work, whereas work had fixed roles, positions and times, play was limitless, and one could be anything in a play, from a prince to hero, to a magician or an astronaut.

It was odd, his mind supplied, as to how he had always wanted to participate in these… _plays_ , yet, there would be a part of him which would reject the notion of utilizing ample time in a fundamentally pointless activity.

He had no time to respond to her request, as she dragged him by the arm, pulling him into a group before he could voice his displeasure, and eventually, Sasuke decided to _play_.

To perform, to act, and perhaps, he mused, if he lost himself in the performance, that would be simply magnificent.

~~~~~~~The Prince of Darkness ~~~~~~~~~~~~

He didn't know why he did it, he just did.

It was like he was drawn to the place, and he had departed from his momentary _play_ with the newfound companions, going deeper and deeper from the park into the woods, and from the woods until he had reached a set of hills.

The sun was slowly beginning to set in the horizon, and he knew that his sisters would be looking for him, but he couldn't ignore the strange compulsion to keep going in his current direction.

It was just unfortunate that the girl, Irina, had deemed it fit to follow him, but her limited stamina could only take her so far.

She was probably lost, somewhere behind him, and he would go back to get her, once the strange compulsion he felt was gone.

He scaled the mountain, paying no heed to how his clothes were torn, nor paying any heed to the large, insurmountable task that lay ahead of him. He simply kept climbing, higher and higher, moving further and further, until at last, he found himself reaching the peak.

It was the oddest thing he had ever seen, climbing to the top and then finding, a woman, tall and beautiful, dressed in a dark long kimono, addressing two creatures, one white and furred with black stripes, and a savage looking appearance and the other, golden, shining and glimmering with a snout, and nine long tails.

The trio paused as though regarding his arrival as an oddity.

"A boy?"

The creature, a _tiger_ , Sasuke noted, seemed to sniff in his general direction twice before snarling.

"A devil," it growled out.

The woman seemed to frown. "More and more of your kind have been entering our domain. Now, you have the bravado to so brazenly come upon a sacred mountain?"

The fox, was what Sasuke had his eyes trained on, and she seemed to speak up in his defense. "Amaterasu-sama, perhaps he meant no disrespect –"

"This is your problem Yasaka. You keep seeing the good in these arrogant beings. Their god was perhaps the most arrogant, but at least he could afford to be with how much power he possessed."

He kept his eyes trained on the fox, for some odd reason. There was something about her, about it, a fox with nine-tails, that struck some sort of thought and memory in his mind, but he couldn't exactly remember what it was supposed to be.

Then there was the name of the woman, Amaterasu… Sasuke's vision became hazy as he tried to understand what was going on. There were images flashing in his head, images of black, ravaging, all-consuming flames, and images of him _controlling_ those flames.

"Wait… _that_ smell…!"

The white tiger turned to him, emanating a ferocious growl.

"What is the matter Byakko?" the tall woman asked.

"There's no mistaking it…" the tiger moved menacingly towards him "… I'll never forget your smell Morningstar!"

Sasuke barely evaded the first lunge, and he lost his balance, finding himself tumbling down the mountain, compiling scrapes and bruises as he fell, before he finally rolled to a stop at the bottom of the mountain.

Sasuke's head hurt, tears stung at the corner of his eyes as his vision blurred and became hazier than ever. He didn't waste time in trying to pity himself however, he got up, and moving as fast as he could, he ran down the mountain, sprinting like his life depended on it, as every heartbeat radiated within his eardrums and the rush of adrenaline nulled any sensation of pain or fatigue he might have endured.

The tiger seemed to have been hot on his tail, as he heard the continuous growls and snarls echo behind him, he spurned himself to move faster, only to miss a step, tripping over a vine as he was sent careening down the forest at breakneck speed.

His descent was stopped when he barreled into someone, and together, they fell, a massive pile of tangled limbs, before ultimately coming to a stop.

"Sasook! I've been lookin' for you!"

He would have sworn in any tongue he knew at that moment, but instead, he simply dragged the arm of the girl and kept moving.

"What's going – "

No questions needed to be asked upon hearing the terrifying growls of the white tiger, and Sasuke, for a brief second contemplated leaving the girl. There was a chance that the tiger wasn't after her, but only after him.

He couldn't however, as the Tiger flanked him, appearing directly in front of his path, and cutting off his route of escape.

"What _are_ you supposed to be boy? There is the scent of the Morningstar all over you, then you smell of death, and there is a third, final scent, of bloodshed… so much bloodshed and anguish."

Sasuke said nothing, confused, but managing to maintain a firm stand, as Irina shivered behind him in fear.

The tiger circled him, before its eyes narrowed. "The fact alone that you smell of Morningstar is why I cannot let you leave here alive. With God dead, Lucifer and Michael are the only beings capable of becoming the new deity of your faction. Michael is a pacifist, whereas the Morningstar is anything but."

"No."

The tiger stilled. "What?"

Sasuke didn't know what compelled him to speak, to say anything, but there was some innate force driving him that he himself did not quite understand.

"That is a lie. An excuse. The real reason you want to kill me is personal… because of something else, something that left you scarred, hateful and full of revenge."

The tiger took a step back, and Sasuke had an inkling of an idea, a thought that he could gleam from observing the tiger's demeanor, from the way his paws shuffled to what could be assumed as a scar underneath his eyes, and then lastly, to the small area of his tail where there was a small, patched looking piece of fur that looked similar to the tiger's but wasn't quite exact.

"He… he killed your son."

There was a physical wave of killing intent that Sasuke could barely withstand, and that made Irina fall unconscious in seconds.

" _That_ ability… to gleam out the motivations of others… you _are_ Morningstar!"

"No! I'm –"

"You will not _lie_ to me Lucifer! Hundreds of years I have dreamed of the moment I would steal you from Death's grasps to make you pay for what you did!"

Sasuke grit his teeth. This was the problem that he had with people. With the world. No one _listened_ to him. No one _understood_ things the way he did. They believed him to be a simple naïve child, they took his words and comments as bug stains on window frames, and ultimately, he didn't know what he would do to make them sit down and _listen_.

"I'm not Lucifer!"

The tiger growled. "Then _who_ are you?"

"I'm –"

 _A boy stands alone in the darkness, staring at a littered compound filled with dead bodies._

"I'm –"

 _The same boy stares at the retreating back of a figure, no longer wearing the proud insignia of their clan._

"I'm –"

 _The boy, years later, stands on a statue, facing against his greatest rival and greatest friend._

The tiger waits no longer, letting out a tremendous roar as it pounced upon it's prey.

The boy blinks, closing his ebony eyes as death seemed certain.

Only for two crimson red eyes to re-open into the world.

And a ghastly apparition of blue flames follows.

~~~~~~~~~~ The Prince of Darkness ~~~~~~~~~~

A young woman, dressed in black, considered beautiful by all men who would see her, and considered the destiny that awaited all things that lived, moved through her domain, her face filled with one of anger and utter rage that would simply set lose a spark, and once more, chaos and anarchy would be let loose unto the world.

She found her target, the form of an elderly white man with long beards and in a white robe.

"Geezer… what have you done?"

The old man gave out a kindly smile. "I know not of which you speak my old friend."

Death was not amused. "Lucifer…. Morningstar."

"Ah, has that wayward son of mine pulled another of his tricks?"

"Where is he?"

"You see my old friend, you assume due to your nature and power, that you know all and see all. That you cannot be tricked."

" _Where is he?_ "

"You seemed to have misunderstood Lu's intentions. He never wished to gain a new body, for he knew you would never allow it to be so."

" _Where. Is. He?"_

"He is gone, he has ceased to exist – in the form of Lucifer Morningstar."

Death's eyes widened in realization.

"No."

"Yes," the man said, shaking his head "The Prince of Darkness has returned to the world, and he will change it."

The man let out a smile.

"For better, or for worse."

~~~~~~~~~~ The Prince of Darkness ~~~~~~~~~

* * *

 _ **This**_ **is for those wondering what happened to Lucifer. He isn't dead, nor is he some voice inside Sasuke's head. If you can figure out _what_ he is, I'll give you a cookie.**

 **Frankly, writing Sasuke without his memories just doesn't feel like _Sasuke_. Hence, I needed him to gain his memories quickly, so we can have him return to the Sasuke we all know and love, and the story will _really_ kick up from there.**

 **Kindly Read and Review.**

 _ **Silent Songbird.**_


	3. Melancholy

**I do not own Naruto nor do I own High School DxD.**

* * *

 **The Prince of Darkness**

 **Chapter 2:**

 **Melancholy**

* * *

 **Six Months Later**

Serafall Leviathan no longer understood her brother.

"Now, let the bi-annual meeting of the Satans begin."

The Leviathan managed to put up her smile around the other three Satans, listening to the reports of the Underworld half-heartedly. She couldn't focus however, as her mind had been on one person and one person only.

The young Sasuke Sitri had changed, and he had changed in a manner that she herself did not even know how to bring him back. Though he had always been aloof, always preferred to be on his own, and though he might have been so easy to overlook, there was always something about him that made him the young adorable little boy she knew and loved.

Not anymore.

She _still_ loved him, nothing on hell or heaven would be able to stop that fact, but it was hard to love someone who pushed people away, and she herself did not know how to reach out and save someone from an ocean of loneliness, when he was so determined to drown.

There was a part of her that felt that it was her fault. If she hadn't taken the twins out to the human world on that particular day – if she hadn't made the mistake of letting Sasuke leave her sight –

No one truly knew what had happened that day. She had found Sasuke, unconscious in an utterly razed forest, with a human girl behind him, and in front of the boy, had been the head of a legendary white tiger, the expression of shock and fear still present, as though permanently etched on the face of the beast.

Thankfully, no incident occurred due to the testimony of Yasaka, who narrated that Byakko had been the one to chase after Sasuke in the first place – though there was something else, something that had been hidden, and till now, Serafall never found out what.

It wasn't like talking to Sasuke was going to help her case.

He had become reclusive after the event, he would be found training as usual, but there was a sense of purpose to this training unlike before, and the drive at which he did it was downright terrifying.

According to Sona, he would only appear in front of the family for dinner, and nothing else. Even when he did show up, he only nodded his head towards whatever was said, and then he would bow, and leave the dinner table and go back to his training.

That was… it was no way for a five year old child to live.

"… and ultimately, the truce is still fragile, but I believe that – Serafall? Is anything the matter?"

Serafall managed to blink, realizing that she had zoned out through the entire meeting.

"Ah… It's nothing – I'm fine."

The three Satans gave her odd stares, but she paid it no heed.

She _was_ Serafall Leviathan after all.

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~ The Prince of Darkness ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

The slow, constant repetitive sound of a pair of naked fists slamming into a heavy bag of sand echoed loudly in the empty training room of the Sitri Clan. Exhausted pants followed, as the bag swung and groaned with each and every consecutive hit, pounding into it with the ferocity one would expect from a woodpecker attempting to bore its way through an aged and hardened coniferous tree.

Endlessly, the bag was repeated with a rapid fire of punches that soon began to mirror that of a barrage launched from a fully automatic firearm than from a pair of fists, a pair of fists coming from a mere child.

No, he was no _mere_ child.

Eventually, the attacks seemed to still, and in one ferocious motion, the final jab seemed to pierce through the bag as his entire hand was coated with a flash of lightning, one which, for a brief second, brought a form of exhilaration into the boy, which vanished almost as soon as it had arrived, like wisps of vapor emerging from the mouths of men in the most frigid of climates.

' _Not enough_. _Still not enough._ '

It had been six months since Uchiha Sasuke regained the entirety of his memories. Six agonizing months in which he had thrown himself into a heavy training regime, spending his every waking moment in an attempt to get himself back to the level of strength he had once possessed. He no longer had chakra, which was expected given his current status as a devil, and as a result, he decided to instead work primarily on his physical attributes, before trying to recreate most of his famous techniques utilizing Demonic Energy.

He stopped his assault, ignoring his bruised and battered bare fists as he turned to a mirror, finding it both oddly infuriating and yet, somewhat satisfying to see the toned, lean and muscled body of a five year old which stared back at him.

He was weak and he knew it. The mere threat of his own glaring weakness more than anything spurred him on to train harder than he ever had before. Of course, he was only five, and there was a limit to what the body of a child, high class devil or not, could actively withstand.

Yet, he could not accept the thought of being weak. No. Weakness and an inability to protect one's self was what led to failure, disaster and death. A literal lifetime ago, had he possessed strength when he was at this tender age, had he been born the same type of absurdly rare child genius with metaphysical levels of intellect and talent that was the epitome of human ability like his brother, then his tale would have ended much differently.

He stared into the mirror, his black orbs stared back, and he tried his best to channel the familiar rush of demonic energy into his eyes, hoping to at the very least re-activate the one thing which held so much significance to him than any and all other, the one thing which was the very staple of his clan and to which without it, he was as deft as a surgeon with a butter knife.

For the faintest of moments, he could have sworn that his eyes momentarily flashed red, sparking within him a form of exhilaration that would have been the equivalent of several children taking a rollercoaster for the first time whilst on a sugar rush. However, his momentary hope sank like a cruise ship of optimism against the frosty iceberg of disappointment as his eyes remained as they were, unadorned, hollow, dark orbs that lacked a modicum of supremacy.

"Sasu-chan?"

Sasuke turned, finding Serafall, - _his sister_ , his mind mentally chided – looking across from him with Sona – _his twin_.

"Yes Serafall-neesama?"

Strange, Sasuke's mind noted, as the youthful woman seemed to have flinched. Had he done something wrong? He had addressed her in a manner that was supposedly befitting of the way one should address someone of her power, status and rank. Why did she then seem so displeased?

"So-tan was just telling me all about her hobby! She was wondering if you'd like to watch her perform, or join her."

Sasuke blinked. "Hobby?"

"Figure Skating."

His mind placed the sport, identifying it as the process of moving across a surface of ice gracefully whilst wearing a bladed footwear which was explicitly designed for the purpose of traversing such frozen bodies of water.

It was a sport which required apt dexterity, balance, and a certain level of grace and proficiency that he was utterly unaware his elder twin possessed.

"How long have you been doing it?"

The question seemed to have brought about another silent unease, and made Sasuke mentally inquire as to whether he had said something wrong. It seemed unlikely, rather, it should have been the opposite, as he was actively trying to put an interest into his sister's life.

"Six months."

Sasuke tracked the time period, his mind coming to a slow dawning as he recognized that it had been exactly six months ago that he had regained his memories.

It hadn't necessarily occurred to him earlier, but he was slowly beginning to realize it.

As Sasuke _Uchiha_ , he had been used to living on his own for quite an extended period of time. He had been used to travelling on his own, acting on his own, and performing actions and deeds to which no one would question him. He had lost the feature of having someone ask him what he wanted to eat for dinner, or of people around him wanting to speak, socialize and communicate with him – wanting to gain such bonds of camaraderie and attain the form of familial love.

Sasuke _Sitri_ however, _did_ have such features. As far as the world was concerned, Sasuke Sitri was a young, sheltered child who knew nothing about the world, a child who preferred the company of solitude to that of living beings, and seemed not to care about making bonds with anyone or anything – not even his own _twin_.

It was odd, inexplicable as to how he was Sasuke Uchiha, he had all the memories of Sasuke Uchiha, of his mistakes, of his arrogance and flaws and everything that had made him, _him._ Yet, at the same time, he was Sasuke Sitri – a boy born into wealth and affluence, with two sisters, a complete set of parents and a household that loved and adored him.

But – But – he was destroying what little part of Sasuke Sitri existed… because he could not be that person. He was pushing them away, stopping them from getting close, erecting a wall for the people who loved him.

He had to do it - the entire reason he was _alive_ was to make amends, to seek out _redemption_ , he didn't _need_ a loving family – he didn't _deserve_ one; he didn't deserve to live on happily as though the past was gone and as though his actions hadn't mattered –

Even though they were all dead, everyone he had ever known, everyone he had ever wronged, everyone to whom he needed to make amends – all were buried and gone.

What purpose did his redemption hold anymore? For whom was he attempting to atone?

So why would he, in his attempts to atone for his crimes of inflicting pain and agony into others, inadvertently inflict pain and agony into those who now cherished him?

Why would he?

"Sasu-chan?"

"I –" he tested the words, feeling foreign on his tongue "I would like that. To see you perform."

It should have been declared criminal, the manner in which both of their faces lit up in both joy and surprise, as his normally apathetic twin sibling had more emotion on her face than he had ever seen before, Sasuke could do nothing but futilely attempt to stop the strange warm feeling in his stomach from observing their expressions.

He attributed the disturbances to simply feeling famished after his extremely lengthy work-out regimen.

"But can I get something to eat first?"

Again, the manner in which Serafall – _his sister_ – smiled at him was something that should have been confirmed a kinjutsu, as the motion was both endearing and disarming, a smile that would have sent even the hardest and most devout of terrorists laying aside their arms as they fell into a weeping, repentant mess.

"Anything you want Sasu-chan."

For the briefest of moments, he could have sworn that the image of someone else superimposed over that of the girl, as sunlight blond and blue eyes flashed, Sasuke ignored the slight tug at his lips and instead settled into a strangely longing air.

"Some ramen… would be nice."


	4. Family Ties

**To begin, I'll say it now that the pairing of this story is secret, so please, please, _please_ stop asking me about it. I can tell you what it _isn't_ and maybe you can figure it out via process of elimination. If the characters are:**

 **1\. Overly/Desperately Seductive/Slutty**

 **2\. Pettanko/Tsundere**

 **3\. Weak/Useless in a Fight**

 **Then they are not considered candidates for the pairing of this story (unless you can _PM_ me _strong_ reasons otherwise).**

* * *

 **The Prince of Darkness**

 **Chapter 3:**

 **Family Ties**

* * *

Serafall Leviathan swallowed.

She wiped the sweat off her brow as her eyebrows narrowed in focus, staring at the bland, but somewhat cocky gaze of her opponent, she knew that she had to do everything in her power to wipe it off his face, as she had grown tired of seeing it for a while now.

"Give up nee-chan, you can't beat me."

She chewed on the insides of her cheek as she felt herself riled up from the comment. The cheek! Oh, she would make sure that this battle would most definitely end with him calling her uncle, watching as he seemed to wave his hair back, which, after an excessive grooming by yours truly, had eventually fallen down from its spiky mess and now came into a soft long bangs that framed the left side of his face. Of course, if it were up to her, she'd have tied it up into a ponytail, instead of letting it obstruct his vision, but even with his vision obstructed, she _still_ couldn't seem to match up to him.

"Don't think you've won yet Sasu-chan… I've still got my secret weapon."

He shrugged, as though indicating that whatever form of power she could pull up would be unable to match him, falling into a relaxed stance, as though to say that he was utterly sure about his superiority, and that she, his elder, and his superior in both matters of life and that of ranking, were nothing to his might.

She took a slow breath, their eyes gazing at each other, a calm, frigid stare piercing beneath both layers, and eventually, the sound was broken by the signal that would indicate the beginning of their battle.

Yes, it was a battle that she would win, Serafall Leviathan would never lose to him.

Not at Air Hockey.

 _BZZT!_

She blinked, and in that split second, she stared as the puck had entered the goal once more.

"H-hey! Sasu-chan! I wasn't ready for that one yet!"

He gave her what felt like a deadpan stare.

"You've been saying that for the past fifty rounds."

"B-b-but! But - !"

She resisted the urge to cry and pout at the same time. She was the Leviathan! The strongest female devil in the entire Underworld! She could create oceans at will and massive wastelands of ice all at her fingertips! So why in the world could she not beat her younger brother at a single game of Air Hockey?!

How could it be that the boy's reflexes and eyesight was just so much faster than her own? Of course she knew the ludicrous amount of training that he went into, and that he kept his physical body fit in a way that most devils didn't usually have the time or the energy to invest into considering that they usually relied on their magical prowess or special clan abilities to get by, but still! It was like he could see things in slow motion or that he could predict the moves she was about to make before she even made them.

"Mou… Sasu-chan, don't you feel bad about beating your nee-chan so badly?"

She stared at the scoreboard, wishing the huge, red blinking zero would combust as it stood in bright contrast to the large shining five hundred.

He shrugged, flipping the puck. "You're the one who challenged me nee-chan."

"That's only because you beat me at ping-pong!" she said, before her voice teetered off into a low echo "And pool… and foosball… and monopoly… and Mario Kart…"

A lot of things had changed over the past two years since Sasuke started being more open with the rest of his family. It was a slow and gradual change at first, but when he put his mind to it, he actually started trying to invest into her life and the life of his twin, and even went as far too occasionally checking up on her. All the same, it made Serafall realize that her younger brother was a genius. Oh, she didn't mean 'geniuses as in one of those really smart individuals, she meant it as in 'once-upon-a-century' type genius.

Serafall could still remember the moment, that particular evening in which her mother, Shifra, had been sitting in front of the large grand piano, her fingers drumming across the keyboard with all the elegance of tap-dancer across a frozen lake, lost in her melodious symphony, as the sound of music draped across the room as though invisible muses splattered around with rhythm as their paintbrush and harmony as their ink. She remembered the taste of the red wine on her tongue, and even more so as it had splattered on her dress, as Shifra had taken a momentary break, and Sasuke had walked up to the piano, like a teenager would approach an old seesaw, and he had sat, his fingers hitting the keys.

Then it had started. Slow at first, choppy, and a bit off tune, but Shifra had been pleased at her son taking interest in music, but all that changed, when the boy gained an air of sophistication, his back straightened and till this moment, Serafall would have sworn his eyes glowed red, and then, to the collective awe of the household, like witnessing the very _angel_ of music descend from the heavens to render them asunder, strike for strike, key for key, melody for melody, he began to play the song as well as his mother.

Then, he played it _better_.

She could still remember it, the feeling of her hand shaking in equal parts splendor, amazement, fear and utter exhilaration, and she found herself spellbound, like a mere rodent bending to the whims of the Piper, moving against all volition to the music, as everyone, and everything had become a world of colors painted upon smells built around sounds, and likewise, no one in the Sitri household would ever forget the moment that they all began dancing, without cause, without reason, as though it was utter and primal instinct to move accordingly to the music, bewitched by sheer and utter mastery.

When all at once, it stopped.

The combined effect, Serafall would never forget, likening it to the combined unease of a hangover, and the aggravating tension arrived from being deprived an orgasmic release at the height of sexual stimulation. She recalled, blinking in confusion, as she wondered why she was holding one of the maids in an amorous dance pose, whilst her mind, nay, her very _soul_ , felt as though it had been allowed a taste of heaven and then roughly been dispossessed of it.

Her brother, Sasuke Sitri, was a genius of music.

After that incident, her mother Shifra, had instantly whisked him up, as though looking at some long lost family treasure, and instantly assigned him to the best tutors their family money could buy, to teach him the rest of the instruments: the violin, the flute, the harp, the drum, the guitar, and anything in between.

Serafall would never forget, rolling on the floor laughing, as a mere two weeks later, all of Sasuke's tutors had come before Shifra, bowing their heads as they returned the given tutoring fees back to her, all of them forever quitting from that line of work, as they had claimed that there was nothing to teach, and as a result, two of them had even gone so far as to admit their inferiority, with one going so far as to gaze upon Shifra with rage. Upon asking why the man felt so insulted, and why he could not teach Sasuke, Serafall would never forget the man's words as he walked out of the compound.

" _Can the rodent, teach the lion to roar?"_

Her parents had from that day on, regarded their normally aloof son with a form of reverie that could still not be washed off, and it was only due to Sasuke's own insistence on not performing for others, that the young boy was not an international star in the Underworld, as he preferred to relax alone with his music, or at the very least, within the confines of the Sitri Territory.

The Leviathan sighed, collapsing unto the rug as she playfully battered her arms onto the ground. "Mou! I feel like I've failed my job as a big sister! I'm supposed to teach you stuff… and – and be the super cool sister you try to beat, but then I'll tell you that games aren't all about winning and teach you some awesome moral lesson that'll make you look up at me with stars in your eyes!"

She stared at him with tears comically rolling down her eyes. "But – but – How can I do that when I can't beat you at anything?"

His left eye seemed to twitch. "You're mixing up real life and anime again nee-chan…"

A lightbulb instantly went off in her head. "That's it Sasu-chan! Let's have an anime-off!"

"What."

"We'll do cosplays and voice impersonations and mock battles and – Sasu-chan? Where are you going? Sasu-chan? Sasu-chan! Come back Sasu-chan!"

* * *

~~~~~~~~ The Prince of Darkness ~~~~~~~~~

There was one place Sitri Sasuke went to whenever he wanted to 'cool off'. It was not a zone necessarily meant to cure or satiate anger, or to calm rigid or turbulent emotions, but hopefully it would be a zone that would help him calm down whatever form of hormones that would start up once he did eventually reach the age of puberty, _again_.

He found himself entering into a large, dome like stadium, once again, the realization that this building belonged to him seemed to drive home the fact that he was lucky to have been born into such an affluent home, and he stared onto the center, where there was a large, round field of pristine, frigid ice. In the center of the ice, spinning, twirling, and moving with all the expected grace of a true performer, was his sister – _his twin_ – his mind corrected.

Sona had taken to figure skating as a bird took to flight, and for a while, he had taken a form of satisfactory pleasure in simply watching her practice or perform, unbeknownst to the girl herself, until his elder sibling – _Serafall_ – had caught him on one occasion, and playfully teased him about reaching the stage in which he started to fancy the female form enough to stalk his own twin.

He had shaken off the accusations like a dog would shake off water, though it had brought him some thought.

The last time he had been going through puberty, he had more or less been focused on a task which had been so deeply ingrained into his brain that the thought of copulating or the fleeting moments of realizing the world of female mammary glands and sex had been pushed to a region so far at the back of his mind that it would have been nearly impossible to retrieve it. Unfortunately or fortunately, the devil society had changed things, as he was in fact, a _devil_.

As a devil, Sasuke had easily come to discover that sexuality was not a big deal, and neither was nudity. He remembered the occasion, one of the extremely few ones, in which he had once sat down to watch a morning time animation with his twin, remembering how he had to keep his face utterly passive as the 'children's program' consisted of overly sexualized individuals fighting giant, tentacle monsters, and then these said appendages proceeding to slither and grab the female protagonists in places and ways that would have been more fitting in a pornographic production.

Then, the _actual_ pornographic material was rated thirteen up.

Though that was somewhat disconcerting, the boy took it in stride, however, the one thing that was _still_ somewhat… _uncomforting_ to him was the fact that polyamorous relationships in the underworld were considered commonplace, and even _supported_ , as the tradition of harems went as far as making it seem like a glorious and highly revered accomplishment, and not just one man's pathetically weak excuse to live a fantasy in which he could have sex with as many women as he wanted.

He was momentarily drawn out of his reverie by his sister, who came up from the ice, taking a seat, to which he calmly handed her a bottle of water, without the need to say anything.

She took it, nodding appreciatively, before sitting down. Then, Sasuke moved towards her ice skates, bending one knee, as he aided her in removing the contraption, the entire large theater being silent, save for the gulping sounds of water as it went down a throat, the sound of fingers working to untangle rope, and the soft mellow of calm, rhythmic breathing.

It was strange, Sasuke noted, how it had almost been an entire year since he had begun this strange ritual of silence with his twin, and even stranger as to how the situation and the sounds seemed to possess a more pacifying effect on him than he could have otherwise reasoned possible.

He could easily recall the first time, when he had failed at yet another attempt to recreate the Chidori using only demonic energy, he had stumbled in, like a soulless wanderer, before plopping against one of the chairs in dejected and frustrated exasperation. Then, he had realized, with a start, that he was not alone, as his twin practiced out on the ice, and as his gaze followed her every movement, every raise of the arm, every turn of the hips, every sway, every stop, every leap and every hop, until in time, he found himself transfixed.

When she was done, she had walked up, and Sasuke had stared into her eyes, crystal and clear without her usual spectacles, and she could see that he was troubled, and she could tell that there was something on his mind. Rather than ask him about it, bother him with questions, she had simply made a request, that he help her with the skates.

He remembered his own thoughts, contemplating a weird mix of annoyance at the request, and confusion, but in the end, with a brief raise and drop of his shoulders, he had gotten on one knee, and began to aid her in removing them.

He had said naught, and she had said naught, and as they were left in the silence of each other's company, the relaxed meaning began to dawn upon him.

He would look into her eyes, and he would find the words clear.

' _I put on these shoes, I decided to wear them, and I should remove them on my own accord. But, though I can do this by myself, I can always ask for help.'_

He remembered her reddened face as he grabbed her bare feet, and consequently recalled how her air of collection and composure had all but evaporated as he had, on the spur of the moment, tickled her feet, and watched as she was reduced to a giggling mess, forever embalming the message into his memory.

' _No matter what you get yourself into, no matter how many times, the people around you who care for you, will always help you out.'_

From that day on, Sasuke learned to value his twin, her presence, her absence, and her ability to say so much, without saying anything at all.

It was an odd experience for him, having sisters. He had thought that he had seen and experienced the height of sibling affection, of what it was capable of and what it could do, but it seemed that there was a world of difference between the affection of brothers, and that between a brother and sister.

Though, there was a part of him which came, guiltily, feeling as though every happy moment he spent with his new family, was one in which he was tarnishing the memories of his old one, ruining the fond memories he had possessed of Itachi, of his mother Mikoto, and even his father, Fugaku. When that moment came, as it did now, he found himself recoiling from physical contact, doing so as he let her skates fall to the floor, and then merely gazed upon the object as though it was infested with disease.

He immediately realized what he had done.

He opened his mouth, but the words, the apology, they would not come, either out of pride or some form of resentment, he did not know.

Instead, he said nothing, turning his back, and getting ready to –

"Sasuke."

Hearing his name called made him freeze for a few brief seconds, which was more than enough time for him to be surprised at the sudden contact, as, for what might have been the first time in seven years, the first time since they had been twins, he felt his sister's arms wrap around him from behind, as her head buried into his back.

"Stay. Please."

He did not have the heart to refuse.

* * *

~~~~~~~~ The Prince of Darkness ~~~~~~~~~~

From that day on, and several days after that particular incident, Sasuke would wake up to realize that sometime during the night, his twin had snuck into his room, into his bed, and proceeded to use him as an interim pillow.

He was at first, unused to such intimate levels of contact, being able to count on one hand the number of times he had hugged anyone in his life, but it was not entirely an unpleasant change.

At the very least, she was decent enough to sleep in a pair of pajamas rather than in the nude, so the ex-Uchiha found nothing inherently wrong with it, and several of the maids of the household had somehow found it 'cute' and 'endearing'.

There were often times, during nights such as these, which Sasuke would lie awake, with his twin beside him, oblivious to the world, as he gazed out through the window and observed the sky. There was something extraordinarily charming about the nocturnal periods, and even though he was fully aware that the time in the underworld could easily be altered, and there was no true 'sun', he still loved it when the fiery ball of warmth had vanished from the horizon, and all activities had slowed to a crawl. Whereas nighttime usually invoked a sense of fear of the unseen and the unknown, an uneasiness which ran deep into the evolutionary structure of all beings, the he found it to be his best solace.

It was on one of these nights, that the strangest of things happened. Sasuke found himself as usual, with Sona using his stomach as a pillow, and gazing up above, when he realized that his room had another guest.

"It is beautiful isn't it?"

The voice came out in a slow, dry drawl, and every inch of Sasuke's being flared to life as to how dangerous it sounded.

He made to lunge for it, only to find himself unable to move, instantly struck immobile.

Folly.

That word served as a constant reminder to Sitri Sasuke that not all good things did indeed come to those who wait. It also served as a cold reminder of the fact that the world he lived in was one in which the slightest of weakness would be rapidly seized by your enemy, and then carefully dissected, exploited and utilized against you in manners often so crippling, that one would not walk away from it the same. He was a fool to have been so relaxed – to have let himself feel familial bonds and now, now he was going to suffer the price of his foolishness.

His heart raced as the figure emerged from within the shadows of his room.

"It's nice to know you've decided to stop being the resident family mole and get along with your sisters. Family is everything."

With similar black hair styled into a long pony-tail and somewhat tanned looking skin, a small goatee and a pair of rectangular spectacles, the man cast a rather odd sight, dressed in an all-blue pair of pajamas that had a design of _Serafall_ on it, in skimpy poses along with her waving a banner that wrote 'best dad ever'.

All at once, Sasuke's fear was replaced with confusion.

"F-father?"

The man, with a slouched gait, craned his neck and let out a yawn.

"Clan Training begins tomorrow."

The man then proceeded to drag his feet towards the door.

"Oh and, though incest isn't frowned upon in the Underworld, I'd suggest waiting a few more years before trying anything with your sisters."

Sasuke could only sputter out in utter indignation, as he watched the man leave his room, the door closing with a single, resounding click. All at once, the pressure in the room vanished and Sasuke found it easier to breathe again. He shook his head as he let it plop back unto the pillow, realizing that his father was _definitely_ not someone he wanted to get on the bad side of.

Sinbad Sitri was a dangerous man.


	5. Cost and Effect

**Special thanks goes to a reviewer called BaconAddict, who actually pointed out very good reasons for certain pairings, and thus, made me reconsider my ban on "Extremely/Desperately Seductive/Slutty Characters". So yes, the pairing** ** _may_** **come from characters in that category.**

* * *

 **The Prince of Darkness**

 **Chapter 4:**

 **Cost and Effect**

* * *

Every devil had a sin.

Sitri Sasuke had come to this conclusion particularly after observing as many individuals of his new race as possible. In particular, the 'sins' of these devils seemed to follow the traditional seven, and almost every devil possessed at least one of these particular seven traits. Females in general seemed to possess the sin of Lust, as it was obvious within them from how their anatomy was almost perfect and devoid of flaws, ideal to deceive and tempt men, to their general demeanors and characters.

Other devils, possessed that of Pride. They were haughty, arrogant, and overconfident and felt that either their names or their wealth and status was the grounds on which they could trample others, and elevated themselves into heights that they obviously did not deserve. Sasuke had noted this element of pride particularly in the privileged sons and heirs of different Pillar Houses, and even their parents and current clan heads were also filled with pride. Often, they overlapped this Pride with Wrath, and it made for very nasty combinations.

Of course, the reason why the Uchiha-turned-Sitri was contemplating this in the first place, was because he had discovered his father's sin, and it was bad… no pun intended.

They were in the human world, more specifically, on a large, luxurious, state-of-the art _cruise ship_. Again, Sasuke was still uncomfortable realizing that his clan had this sheer amount of wealth to so easily toss around, to the point in which the privately owned cruise ship that had everything from a casino to a spa, a fitness center, a library, a theatre with Broadway-style shows, a cinema, an indoor and outdoor swimming pool with water slides, a hot tub, several Lounges, a gym, a Basketball court, a Tennis court, several Pool tables, Ping pong tables, an Infirmary and everything else he could think of.

And on this ship, lay Sinbad Sitri, on the promenade deck, directly under the sun, laying on a comfortable chair with sunglasses on, and an open Hawaiian shirt with a pair of shorts, _tanning_ himself.

"Ah… the human world might be filled with so many morons, but it does have its quirks…"

Yes, the Patriarch of the Sitri Clan's sin… was _Sloth_.

Ironically enough, the man seemed to only be so lazy and laidback when he was not in view of his wife, or of any other clan head. Sasuke could still remember the time that the Lord of the Gremory Clan had come to visit, and as Zeoticus and his wife Venelana were honorary guests. Then, Sinbad's eyes were sharp, brisk and straight to business, mirroring that of Sasuke's twin, Sona, down to the littlest of details. With his intimidating glasses and no-nonsense tone, it had been somewhat of a surprise to Sasuke, when he had entered his room the previous night with such goofy looking pajamas and a laidback attitude that he truly wondered if it was the same person.

Then again, he had to have assumed that Serafall inherited her zany, happy-go-lucky attitude from _somewhere_ , and though Sinbad was more of an apathetic snow globe found in a pawn shop with a 'made in China' logo slapped underneath it was the closest Sasuke could compare to his sister's ball of sunshine.

"Father… when does the Clan training begin?"

To Sasuke's surprise, _Sona_ had been the one to ask the question, apparently no longer willing to wait. They had gotten up rather early in the morning, ready and pepped for some hard, rigorous training that would unlock unto them their ancestral knowledge and powers… only to have been dragged by their father to the human world, where he had proceeded to get on his owned cruise ship, the _Sinner's Solstice_ , and then spent several hours, doing nothing but lounging around as the man tanned himself.

Sinbad rose his glasses and gave them a look. On closer observation, Sasuke would liken the man's eyes to a pair of dead fish, with a bland, indistinguishable expression.

"The training began six hours ago."

Sasuke gave a glance to his twin, and she gave him a similar glance back.

"What." They managed to say in perfect uniform.

The man rose, craning his neck as he stared out into the vast open sea, the sound of the crashing waves being the only thing that could be heard for miles on end.

"You let me sit here and tan myself for six hours before finally saying anything. Either you both have the patience of monks, or you have no spine…"

Sasuke blinked. Wait, so he _wasn't_ just being lazy?

The theory was thrown out of the window when the man let out a long yawn and scratched his bearded chin, his posture dropping to a slouch that easily resembled a lower form of human on Darwin's evolutionary theory.

"Anyway… might as well get started," Sinbad said, "First question, chibi-glasses, why do you think I bring you two out here, into the ocean?"

Sasuke managed to hold back a snort as he witnessed Sona's eyes twitch from the nickname.

"I assume it is because the Sitri Clan is known for its connection and affinity with water magic, and there is the absence of any large bodies of water or oceans in the underworld, hence, bringing us here to the human world which has an abundance of water is part of our training."

"Good. You're half right. You get extra shrimp for dinner tonight," he turned to Sasuke, but was unable to speak before Sona, sharply raising her hand.

"Father, what do you mean I'm half-right? There's another reason to us coming out here?"

He let out an odd, but semi-exasperated smile. "I'll tell you when you're older. Though if you figure it out, then it probably means you're matured enough to get married."

Sona's expression didn't change, though Sasuke could easily see the red that was slowly growing on her cheeks.

"You're not on cheating Mother, are you?"

"It's not cheating if she knows I do it."

At that she all but lost her composure as her face went beet red, though Sinbad paid it no heed. "Second question, family mole, why do you think there are no oceans in the underworld?"

It was Sasuke's turn to look disgruntled at the nickname, and he was momentarily glad that Sona was too busy being flustered to notice.

"There is no water in the underworld because –"

Sasuke stopped. He blinked for a few seconds.

"Because – "

It was rare for him to come across a question he wasn't particularly sure to the answer, and instead, he just stood there, in the relative awkward silence, because his lips and his pride refused to let him open his mouth and confess his ignorance.

"Because it's hell right? A place of fire and brimstone and all the nasty stuff that pastors preach about in order to fill up their offering boxes every Sunday. Why would there be something as wonderful and essential to life as _water_ there?"

The sarcasm in Sinbad's tone made Sona muffle a snort, but only had Sasuke nodding his head dumbly.

The man stared at him for a few seconds. Then he turned his gaze to Sona.

Sasuke watched as the man's posture seem to straighten up, and his eyes regained their business mode appearance. "Do you think it is a _coincidence_ that every member of the Sitri Clan has their names start with the letter 'S' or have you ever thought about it?"

Sasuke contemplated it, he knew it was somewhat unusual for everyone to have alliterative names in a family, but weirder things had happened right?

The man walked past them, his hands behind his back in what would have easily mirrored a sergeant's posture, and he gazed out unto the open sea.

"The Letter S is the nineteenth. That is one, and nine, put together. The number for beginnings and the number for endings. Some call it a quirk of language evolution that the letter is used for both Serpent, Sea, and _Satan_ , but, we of the Sitri Clan know better… assuming our historians weren't just making vague connections to screw with us, that is."

He turned back to the both of them, his tone easily mirroring what Sasuke could only compare to that of a university professor, albeit an extremely laid back and lazy one.

"The Sea and Oceans were the first things in existence and most probably will be the last things in existence. They were here before men, before gods, before _everything_. Even the priests and scholars have it in their holy books that 'their lord moved upon the face of the waters.' Some called it the deep, others void, but whatever the version, the fact remains that water existed long before God did. Water is the one thing that not even the almighty sky-daddy created."

He then jerked his thumb to the ocean behind him.

"I don't have to tell you that water is everything. Because if you were indeed dense enough to _not_ know how important it is, I'd probably disown you."

Sasuke let out a smirk, with Sona's lips also twitching in amusement, until they both looked at the man and realized he was being dead serious.

Well, no pun intended, they couldn't really blame him.

"Without water, all life would seize to exist, plants would die, and animals would perish. Humans would die soon after, probably by their own stupid hands as the state of anarchy from the declining food supplies would lead one idiotic warmonger to push a big red button that creates enough mushrooms for everyone to be floating in clouds…"

That was an interesting way to view a nuclear apocalypse.

"…And without humanity's faith in religion, gods would begin to crumble away into ash and even the dragon of apocalypse himself would fade away with no more dreams anchoring him to this world."

The man shook his head, he glanced out over a large distance, his eyes snapping with fury, and Sasuke's eyes widened as he watched a large ball of fire, no doubt from an explosion, rip through the air several miles away from them.

He glanced at Sona, and she stared back at him, and then back to their father, who let out a sigh.

"Yet, so many idiotic humans underestimate the importance of water. Dumping refuse and worthless junk into oceans, polluting a paradise in search of a utopia… how _droll._ "

His gaze settled on them. "I'm certain you are both wondering why I am telling you this. And somewhere in your heads, you both thought that our clan training only entailed learning how to manipulate water to form techniques for attacking or defending… I'm looking at _you_ family mole, you training obsessed brat. You're thinking 'how does any of this matter?' Well it does. Contrary to what you might think, our clan does not _manipulate_ water, we merely… _conduct_ it."

"Conduct?" Sona asked, confusion apparent on her face.

"Tell me, in a world like ours where dreams and disease and death can walk around in physical bodies and go around screwing things over like a dog in heat, do you really think, that water, the _ocean_ does not have a mind of its own? A will of its own accord?"

Sasuke had never quite thought of it that way. In his studies, and as well as with his own personal experience, he knew that there was Death, the embodiment and manifestation of the concept Death, there was also the being known as Ophis, the manifestation of infinity, there was the being known as Great Red, the Dragon of Apocalypse, who was rumored to be the manifestation of human dreams. It wasn't quite far-fetched that the Ocean, that _Water_ would have a manifestation as well, given just how abundant it was on the human world.

Then, he realized just how powerful such a being could possibly be. The power to cover the world in a giant flood, with just a snap of the fingers.

A magical circle appeared below Sinbad, the man's gait calm as he thrust his arm in a direction to the east. Ways away from the ship, there was a long, deep divide in the Ocean, deep enough that went very nearly to the utmost bottom, and still so deep that it was shrouded in utter darkness. Sinbad clapped his hands once more, and the ocean proceeded to react like a zip, closing back up from bottom to top.

The casual display of power set a small burst of exhilaration inside Sasuke, at the same time, it set in a deep seated amount of fear. His father was _this_ powerful, utilizing techniques that would have even some of the greatest Water Ninjutsu specialists panting and out of breath and the man barely looked fazed. Yet at the same time, his father wasn't even the _strongest_ devil in the underworld, so what sort of utter monsters were in this place?

He _needed_ to get stronger. There was no more doubt about it.

"The Sitri Clan has had a contract with her since ancient times, this allows us to manipulate water in ways and forms that trump all pitiful imitations, leading to the point that our Clan Founder, had once been challenged by the monocle beard Poseidon… a droll day that must have been."

Sinbad let out a small yawn. "Anyway, this power flows through your veins, as it will flow through the veins of your children, and your children's children. However, in exchange, you and they _must_ respect the ocean _must_ respect the sea, and water, and _must_ give back in any way you can."

The man let out a small melancholic smile, the type that movie villains had after kicking puppies. "I gain a personal satisfaction from watching industries that pollute the water go up in flames… the burning employees are quite excellent for roasting marshmallows."

Sasuke wanted to point out that the poor employees didn't really have a choice in the matter, and it was probably the owners he should be burning, but wisely kept shut.

"Now that all the essential stuff is out of the way…" the man glanced at the duo craning his neck "… Let's learn how to kill people with water... and no, chibi-glasses, drowning people doesn't count."

* * *

~~~~~~~~~~ The Prince of Darkness ~~~~~~~~

Sasuke didn't get much sleep that night.

The sound of the crashing waves did not serve to lull him to sleep, and neither did the gentle sways of the large ship. Perhaps it was because he had gotten used to sleeping on his own bed at home, and even more so grown accustomed to having Sona sleep beside him.

He let out a small annoyed grunt as he realized that the room he was in was going to be his living quarters for the next nineteen months. Of course, Sinbad just had to have _forgotten_ to tell them that the Clan training they had been abruptly whisked away for would entail them sailing across the human world for almost two years.

Any form of appeal to change his mind had failed, because somehow, their clothes and essential things had been brought unto the ship in neatly compact boxes, so they couldn't say that they were unprepared for the journey. If he possessed a few acquaintances, like Sona did, he would have told Sinbad that he hadn't had the time to say goodbye to any of them, but of course, the only people he particularly interacted with in the first place was his family, so it was a moot point.

Serafall could pop in for a visit whenever she wanted, as could his mother Shifra, and Sona was on the trip with him. Sona was, however allowed to write letters to her friend, as she had somehow become close with the Gremory heiress, and Sasuke found it just how _coincidental_ it was that the Gremory clan had an heiress exactly Sona's age, who also had an elder sibling that was a Satan.

With what he now suspected about the devil underworld and its love of lore, there was every possibility that it had been some plan by both his mother Shifra and Venelana Gremory to have children around the same time, due to some hope that their children would grow to become friends, if not partners or lovers in future.

Sasuke hadn't personally met the girl known as Rias, but the idea of an arranged marriage heavily left a bitter taste in his mouth.

Sasuke let out a small curse under his breath. His mind was occupied with so many thoughts that sleep was becoming an impossibility. Unfortunately he had been expressively forbidden from training on the ship by his father, and he did not particularly want to earn his ire so early into what would essentially be a very long journey.

Instead, Sasuke chose to explore the ship.

The numerous side-attractions and possibilities were fun, but he was more interested in enjoying a relaxing experience under the stars, to which, he had once more headed to the ship's promenade deck.

It was only upon seeing the actual night sky once more, that Sasuke realized that the one he saw every day in the underworld was truly a pale imitation. Millions and millions of stars glittered, countless, lighting up the night in a manner that was far too ephemeral for words, and left him simply staring at the splendor in a mix of child-like fascination and adult appreciation.

The sky was the same no matter where he went, and such little things like the beauty of the night sky, gave him mixed feelings. He did not consider most people or objects beautiful, nor could he find the flawlessness of artistic masteries to be worth his attention, and he was the sort of person who would walk into a museum of art, filled with endless history, culture, passion, only to stop and stare at a wall that a child had splashed soda on. He would gaze upon the parent, as they began apologizing profusely with a bowed head towards the guards, and as said individuals would put on faux stern faces to intimidate their target, yet, finding it all too amusing as the child in question had eyes which glowed, unaware and uncaring of the consequences of their act, just that they had done it, and that they had made 'art.'

Sasuke's lips twitched. Yes, the masterpieces of the past contained legends and histories which would forever be needed to craft and trace back origins of civilizations, but the art, the true essence of the 'art', had been lost, washed under different political ideas, misattributed and misrepresented by a variety of mavericks in order to fallaciously prove their points and progress their propaganda, and ultimately, leaving the true goal of the original artist buried under a pile of falsities, too exhausted to crawl its way out.

It reminded him of his meeting with the First Hokage, how he had been expecting a figure of legend and myth to be in front of him, a master of the art of control, a god in human suit. In the end what he had found, was a simple, normal human. Filled with similar flaws and eccentricities as the carpenter or the fisherman, with big goals and dreams as the schoolboy or the apprentice, who could laugh like the jester, cry like the widow, smile like the lover, and die like the soldier.

Hashirama Senju had been no more of a god than the men who wrote about him, but in the end, it had been so easy to forget that.

Sasuke shook his head, still staring at the stars. He wondered what had become of the blonde knucklehead, he wondered what had eventually become of Sakura, of Kakashi, of the entirety of the leaf village. He would never know, because their era had long passed, time had gone, and now, now all that was left was for him to move on… to become who he was meant to be.

Sasuke's thoughts came to a slow stop, upon realizing that he could hear music, sweet, melodious, enchanting music, a wonderful song that almost, for a brief second, made tears come to his eyes.

He rose, his eyes darting left and right as his head swayed, trying to do his best to find the source of the music, only to eventually find himself leaning over the end of the ship's railing.

There she was, a beautiful woman, not too far away from the ship, sitting on a rock, naked as the day she was born, and underneath all the stars in the sky, her voice rang out towards him, the enchanting tune making Sasuke feel unable to do anything but stare, and listen.

"Hello~!"

Sasuke blinked, turning to stare at the black haired woman, naked, dripping wet as she stood beside him, his eyes widening.

 _When had she –_

"You liked my song didn't you~? How would you like an encore~?"

Sasuke's mind felt woozy, he took in a deep breath, trying to focus, but somehow his eyes were drawn to her body, her sweet, naked, wet body… and his ears were assaulted by music that made him feel as though he was in the presence of pure, utter, beauty.

She came closer to him, embracing him in a manner that left him even dizzier, her naked breasts directly pressed his face. Gods, Sasuke had never understood the male fascination with the lumpy bags of fat until that very moment.

Culled with the contact, he found himself swaying, off his feet, almost extending past the railings of the ship, the sound of the music playing that served as his comforting serenade continued, but now, there was something else to it, something forced.

It… was… very… _very…_

Irritating.

 _You call this… MUSIC?_!

Sasuke's eyes snapped open, a surge of energy activating into his system as he proceeded to kick the woman in the stomach in the manner that a horse would kick a human being, sending her sprawling away from him in shock.

"Impossible! No one has ever resisted my song before! My voice – don't, don't you love my voice?"

Sasuke picked his ear with his left pinkie. "It would make a great alarm tone."

The woman stared at him. "A…larm?" She shrieked in rage, the large sound reverbating across the ship, and Sasuke swore as he noted five more naked women appear around her, forming six of them in total. Their forms transformed as rabid, sharp teeth emerged from their mouths and their legs turned into serpentine like tails, before they all lunged at him in a swift motion.

"DIE! DIE! DIE! DIE!"

Sasuke braced himself, falling into a stance as he charged up his demonic energy, they were weak sirens, but he couldn't take any chances, getting ready to activate the signature pulse to his eyes which would enable the infamous dojutsu of his clan. He could only maintain it for five minutes as it was now, but, he felt it was going to be enough to take them out.

Right as his eyes had slowly began turning red and the first being had appeared in front of him, fangs bared, everything changed.

 _BANG!_

The gunshot was deafening, one second, there was a siren ready to attack, the next, there was a mash of blood spattered on over, yet, somehow none of it managed to touch him in anyway.

"Now now, ladies, one at a time, this young lad's never been with so many women – don't want him to get all flustered now do we?"

The man was the weirdest person Sasuke had met till date, with long black hair tied into what seemed like dreadlocks, a mustache and a beard, and what was easily a pirate's hat on his head, and a monkey on his shoulder, there walked down the captain of the _Sinful Solstice_ , smoking flintlock pistol in hand.

The remaining creatures hissed at him, and he merely tutted. "Ooh, tough day? Not enough fish in the sea for you all to share? I'd really like to talk you out of the business of abducting princes, I mean just because one person did it –"

"DI –"

 _BANG!_

The gun had gone off again, Sasuke stared, never even noticing when the man had pulled the trigger or even reloaded the flintlock pistol, instead, all he saw were that another siren lay headless, steam still emitting from the top of the head as the body began falling.

"Now ladies, believe me this hurts me more than it does you, my finger gets cramps from pulling this ol' thing you see – and it's always a tragedy to see women die… but, Master Sinbad gave me his orders, and it's not at all in my best interest to anger a man who has both syllables of his name as deleterious terms you see."

In a flash, there was a rapier in the man's hands, and he was gone. A second later, he stood in front of Sasuke with a wink.

"Come along now boy, your father asked me to bring you to him."

Sasuke said nothing, his eyes only widening when the remaining sirens fell, each perfectly divided into three pieces, as their blood began pooling.

"The sirens…"

He waved him off. "A minor threat, happens ever so often that they try to sway a young naïve chap with their songs. Worry not, my first mate takes care of any and all… uh, unfortunate happenstances."

Sasuke just nodded, feeling that these sorts of things would become more and more common and easier to get used to the longer he stayed as a devil.

He eventually found himself following the man deeper into the cruise ship, and it was only until they had halfway reached their destination that Sasuke finally managed to snap out of his reverie.

"Did you call me naïve?"

"Of course not! Why, I think you're the most experienced person on this ship!"

Sasuke's eye twitched. "Just…who… _are_ you?"

The man grinned. "I was wondering when you'd ask. I am many, many people, at often many times, usually depends on my mood or need to escape actually, but for now, I am the captain of this ship and one of your Father's Knights. You may call me Captain Jack Sparrow, remember the _Captain_ … and the monkey… is also Jack, but don't call him Jack."

The monkey proceeded to tug unto his beard in anger.

"My father has a peerage?"

The peerage system and rating game system were _somewhat_ recent inventions after all, being created by the Satan Ajuka Beelzebub, he had guessed that Evil Pieces had been given to every major devil in every major clan, but so many did not approve of the idea of Reincarnated Devils that they did not use them.

It seemed his father was not amongst that list.

"Now, your old man's in there, word of advice, let him finish up his shows before you say anything… you _really_ don't want to get in between him and his programs."

Jack shuddered and made a face.

"Good luck."

Before Sasuke could ask what he meant, the man was gone, either due to pure speed or some teleportation ability, Sasuke wasn't sure.

Instead, he took in a deep breath, as he walked down into the large cinema, the lights were off, and there was a series playing on the projection screen, to which Sasuke could not help but listen in.

" _No! I can't do this! Jose Luis is the one I love!"_

" _But I truly love you Montserrat!"_

Sasuke's eyes twitched as he wondered in all earnest how his father was able to watch this poor excuse of an entertainment with so much eagerness. The man had a large bowl of popcorn, which seemed to have been salted rather than buttered, as he sat on a couch instead of the normal provided seats, with his dead eyes just stared on into the screen without so much of a pause.

" _I found out a secret… I think Montserrat is pregnant._ "

" _Oh no!"_

" _Jose Luis might be the father!"_

" _Oh dear! What will her husband say?"_

Sasuke's eyes were slowly twitching in a mix of annoyance and irritation, and for a second, he contemplated agreeing that the Underworld's shows were far better… he would take overly sexualized and extremely gory material over… _this_.

Eventually, the show came to a close as the credits rolled and the song played on, leaving the man eventually yawning.

"I'm disappointed Sasuke."

The words cut across the room as a swift bolt from a crossbow. The Last Uchiha felt the words cut deep, as though they had been a special weapon carved through the air with the sole purpose of inflicting unsalvageable lacerations.

"Do you know why?"

His best guess would have been because he had almost gotten himself dragged off and killed by a siren of all things, on their first day of training no less. Despite his hours and hours into ensuring that he was strong enough to oppose all threats, he only snapped out of it at the last minute.

His second best guess was because the man had spent his time watching such horrible soap operas.

"Because you're a genius."

The words cut deeper, and only confirmed Sasuke's first guess, feeling his teeth grind into each other at the utter depreciation of his expected might. If he was a genius, how could he have made such an idiotic mistake?

Sinbad let out a long sigh before Sasuke blinked as a piece of popcorn smacked into his nose with more force than he thought possible.

"Oi, family mole, put your head up high. I never said I was disappointed at _you_."

All of a sudden, Sasuke found himself feeling confused. His second guess was correct then?

"Having a genius child is annoying."

There was no malice to his words, just simple annoyance mixed with a fair deal of what Sasuke could only identify as fondness.

"It's more trouble than it's worth raising an extremely inquisitive, stubborn, and sharp brat, who's own thirst for knowledge of betterment would probably end up with his head on the chopping block."

He picked up his drink, a can of what seemed to be lime soda, before taking a large sip from it.

"You know, what's probably worse about geniuses is the change that they bring. I've watched a hundred scenarios and perhaps even a thousand more instances about how the parents would eventually place their hopes, dreams and aspirations on that genius. With flawed thinking that 'ah, yes, my offspring will achieve greatness that I could never dream of.'"

He stared at Sasuke seriously.

"These usually start off with good intentions, generally fostering their child's own aspirations, but overtime, their own selfish wishes seep in with each award and it becomes less a matter of what the child wants, and more of a matter of what _they_ want… substituting their own dreams in guise of parental love and the child's best interest. How… _droll_."

Sasuke felt like he should say something, but he wasn't particularly certain as to what to say, and instead, he let instinct take over and said whatever came to mind.

"You're not like that." He had worded it in a manner that would make it seem as though it was a statement, though they both knew better.

The man gave a bittersweet snort. "You'd be surprised."

If there was any response Sasuke had expected, it wasn't that.

"But no, there's no dream I feel desperate enough to need accomplish that would require me placing it on the head of a mole like you." He let out a small chuckle. "What I feared the most was the second problem about geniuses…"

"Second?"

He gave him another lazy gaze. "The siblings of geniuses are the ones who probably suffer the most."

Sasuke felt his heart stop.

"Most _loving_ parents so easily dismiss them if not outright avoid and shame them for lacking the same genius, they live their entire lives attempting to crawl out of the shadows of a superior relative, and never truly succeed. The stigma of trying your best at something every day, sweating and toiling and given your best efforts, only to be told, 'your sibling mastered it when he was half your age, in half the time' never truly washes off."

Sasuke tried to stop himself from gritting his teeth. Memories of Fugaku Uchiha entered his vision, and he felt his knuckles grow white at the thought of his cold, apathetic face, his never flinching, ever-disappointed gaze, always directed at him in particular, as though to call his existence an insult and his efforts a pale imitation of things that would never be. Sasuke truly wondered if his old father had even, for the briefest moments, seen _Sasuke_ , seen a _boy_ who wanted nothing more than to hear words of praise from his parental figure, and not a constant reminder that his seed had failed to bring forth another specimen of perfection.

In fact, Sasuke had begun to realize, that perhaps his entire quest for vengeance had its roots far planted from before the night of the massacre. There was a part of him, however small, however he hated to admit it, especially now that he knew how much Itachi had loved him, had said to love him, and had cherished the village, there was still that part of him that whispered into his ear, with the tone of a jealous wife or a tempting demon, that if Fugaku had been kinder, if Fugaku had actually _cared_ for one _second_ about his children as living _people_ , and not as instruments of demonstrating his own warped sense of pride and superiority of the Uchiha clan, then maybe, just _maybe_ , his life would have been so much different.

Sasuke was drawn from his thoughts by the sound of a deep reverberating sigh.

"From our training today alone, it is obvious that you grasp concepts faster than the norm, and in time, you will end up leaving your sister, your _older_ twin in the dust."

Any attempt to protest was swiftly shut down with a raise of Sinbad's palm.

"Yes, Sona is a smart girl. She is resourceful and brilliant, but she's not quite like you. In the end, her attempts to catch up will only lead to the divide growing further and further, and her constant frustrations and inability to keep up will eventually mar her…"

He shook his head and let his hand run through his hair. "If you attempt to hold back for her sake, she will see through it easily and the attempt will only hurt her pride and make things worse… a droll outcome for all of us."

Sasuke… hadn't thought of it. The thought made him feel cold, the realization that he would be, in a sense, doing the very same thing to Sona that Itachi had inadvertently done to him, making another individual live in his shadow just by aspiring to be the very best person he could be, so he wouldn't lose anything and anyone again.

How many times had he growled as he punt his fist into the earth in frustration at being unable to catch up to his brother? How many times had he lost his appetite whenever someone had likened him to his elder sibling, but then often made it subtly aware that he was the inferior specimen? How many times? And now, without even realizing it, he would be subjecting that same agonizing feelings unto someone else?

He suddenly felt nauseous.

"You're a genius Sasuke, and it's a heavy responsibility. I'm disappointed, disappointed at myself for knowing that there's so much you will have to endure, and there's nothing I can do to make it any better." He took the final sip of the drink, before haphazardly tossing it into a waste bin without looking.

"Intelligence and talent will win you admiration, but not affection. No… never affection. When you are smarter, stronger, faster, or just plain _better_ than everyone else, it makes them jealous, uncomfortable or suspicious. If you're lucky, they'll merely put you on a shiny pedestal, if you're not, they'll outright ostracize you… because who, on this terrible insane planet, enjoys feeling inferior?"

The room fell into silence, Sasuke's eyes finding anywhere but Sinbad interesting, as his gaze fell unto the television, looking at a group of friends who seemed to be working together to try and achieve a common goal. His mind was whirling a mile a minute, and he was confused. All the while, he had believed that he wasn't _good_ _enough_ , that his talents and skills were poor and lacking, and that he needed to be _better_ , but never once had he stopped to consider the fact that his standards for what was _good enough_ were far, far above what was considered normal.

Then he gazed at his father, the way the man's scattered hair and idle eyes easily said that everything he was saying was coming from experience. There was no doubt about it in his mind now that Sinbad Sitri was also a prodigy, a prodigy quite possibly on the level of individuals like the Fourth Hokage. But something had happened that had made the man in front of him begin to hide that nature, masking it under aloofness and apathy, and further masking his aloofness and apathy under strictness and faux doctrines.

He had contemplated why the man had told him any of this, or what had spurred forth the conversation, until his eyes picked up the newspaper which lay on the couch.

They proceeded to widen as they read the headlines.

 _The Magical Girl's Magical Brother?!_

 _It seems that the famed Sitri Clan of the Underworld, from which our very own Serafall Leviathan originates, is definitely not lacking in surprises, as reports came in from numerous confirmed sources of a hidden musical prodigy never before seen since the likes of the human world's Mozart and Beethoven… Sasuke Sitri has captivated the hearts and minds of the best musical masters and tutors in the underworld, who go as far as to claim that the boy's own genius far outstrips anything they are capable of… All requests for a public performance have been declined by Sitri Clan head, Sinbad Sitri, and it makes us wonder, if young Sasuke is a prodigy at more than just music…_

"The real reason I shifted our training and brought you here was this. Your mother, as much as I love that woman to the death, acted rashly in hiring you those music instructors. They're pride is shattered, but they still went around spreading tells of your ability to anyone and everyone willing to listen, and since then, I have received no fewer than a hundred requests for you to perform, each one with a reward higher than the last."

The man shook his head. "I won't tell you how to live your life, I won't put pressure on you to do things you're not interested in, nor would I _ever_ suggest you stop yourself from reaching your true potential… but in the end, the choices you make are yours, and all I can do, is prepare you for the consequences and hope, that in the end, a crummy old man like me was able to be the best father I could be, to both you and Sona."

There it was, Sasuke noted. Behind the mask of aloofness, and the mask of seriousness, there was a man who doubted his own abilities as a parent, and a man who actually seemed to care for his children.

Sasuke allowed a small, genuine smile to grace his lips.

"I understand father. Thank you."

"Tch…" the man rubbed the back of his head "I've droned on enough, come on, get to bed. Tomorrow's training starts at the crack of dawn."

Sasuke bowed, turning to leave.

"Oh, and the next time I see you get so flustered around a pair of wet breasts, I will force you to spend the rest of your life, bathed by wrinkly old women."

Sasuke whirled. "S-she was a Siren! I was distracted by the song!"

"That's what they all say before tits are shoved in their faces."

"I'm seven!"

"So was she!"

There was a back and forth exchange between the two, so much, that they failed to notice the black haired girl with glasses hidden underneath a seat who had a content smile on her face as she watched the two most important men in her life.

Her father was scared and paranoid, but he was wrong about one thing. No matter how much the distance in their abilities would grow, she wouldn't hate Sasuke for it. She couldn't hate him for it.

No. All she could do was to love him.

She would love him because she was his older sister, and he, her younger brother.

And there was nothing that could change that.

Nothing.


	6. Together Alone

**I do not own Naruto or High School DxD and large time skips can ruin a franchise. 'Nuff Said.**

* * *

 **The Prince of Darkness**

 **Chapter 5:**

 **Together Alone**

* * *

It was beautiful.

Sona let out a breath, and then proceeded to swallow whatever remnants of saliva that lay in her mouth, letting it go down her parched throat like well lubricating oil down the cogs of an aged machine.

It was a hare, clearly no older than a few months old, with pristine brown fur, and long ears, its beady eyes searching around for threats and its soft, cosseting paws burrowing the ground in search for whatever would rapidly become it's next meal – the sheer insouciant nature and the appearance of this baby animal had put in a form of elation into her heart.

This was why a small part of her, felt an inward disgust, as two serpents of water slithered across the ground with the celerity of demons, and struck, the fangs of the first sinking deeply into the animal's neck, and the second, coiling around it and then piercing directly into its eye sockets, both lethal blows killing the small hare as it tried, for a few brief seconds, to put up a valiant last fight, in all utter woe of its highly unfavorable odds.

In the end, it became still, and Sona walked over to it, her stomach feeling sickened by the act which she had just performed on the poor beast, but then, the same stomach growled, and all at once, she couldn't help but imagine instead as to just how sweet the hare would be once cooked under an open flame.

With that, she grabbed the bloody carcass of the animal, and turned towards her destination.

The forest around her possessed a life of its own, she would later note in her journal. _Journal_ and not diary, as her elder sibling would often prefer to call it, nonetheless, Sona would be sure to remember every chirp of the crickets, every hoot of the owls, every screech and cry of the monkeys, every buzz of the mosquitoes and particularly, every vague growl, snarl and hiss. These vague sounds were the ones which sent the most amount of stimulation to her, instinctively triggering her fight or flight responses, sending the blood and adrenaline pumping through her body, regardless of her training.

She moved past the forest, eventually breaking through a thicket of leaves and evading a covering of trees to come across a beach. She moved towards an area, which had the sand clearly disturbed, with two logs adjacent from a small encirclement of arranged rocks and splinters, these arranged rocks and splinters had ashes and bits of darkened and burnt wood underneath, and was clearly designated to be a form of fire source.

"I have procured the necessary element for our dinner."

She spoke briskly, looking over to the boy who going through a heavy workout routine not far away, with two large boulders the approximate size and weight of generic minivan on both legs and as he stood on his arms, sweating heavily, and performing several hand-stand styled push-ups.

On hearing her, he merely gave out a small grunt, before kicking the boulders off his feet, letting them land with a hefty thud onto the sandy floor and kicking up a bit of dust for good measure.

Without uttering another word, he walked up to her and collected the killed animal, and then, instantly went to work on it.

Sona said nothing, instead, she glanced sat down on one of the logs, before glancing down to herself. Her pair of pajamas, which had previously possessed the patterns of her elder sister, holding a mike and singing, had surely seen better states, as the pants had been ripped up to what was now essentially a pair of short-shorts, the edges having a rough finish that looked as though it had been done by tailors with sharks for hands. Her pajama top likewise had also undergone a drastic change, with what was previously a button-up shirt having reverted to a half tank top, decent enough to cover what little there was of her infantine chest, but leaving her belly button and stomach exposed.

Her hair was a frazzled mess and looked as though a child had attempted to make spaghetti with string, dough and black paint, the long mane having grown enough to reach shoulder length, and clearly had no evidence of grooming.

Despite her state, she stared on as she watched her brother carefully and meticulously skin the small animal, the boy himself in nothing more than a pair of swim trunks and his hair having grown to become the mane of an electrified lion, but otherwise he looked none the worse for wear.

She fiddled her thumbs idly as she stared at him, feeling a mixture of annoying and complicated phenomena inside her that she was not entirely sure how to begin explaining, or where to even start.

"You can fault me, if you want."

The words came out, and she found herself regretting uttering them the moment they did.

"Why should I?"

He hadn't stopped his work, but he spoke, and Sona wondered if the question was born out of curiosity or of something else.

"Do not play dumb little brother. You _know_ why. It is my fault we are in this predicament."

She stared out into the island, her dull eyes wishing she could simply cover it with a wave of her hand.

"If I had not been training under that storm… If I had not been practicing Clan techniques despite Father's insistence not to… I would not have fallen overboard, and we would not be here."

She remembered it all too clearly, staring back in hindsight of her own foolishness, as she had attempted an experiment to see if the Sitri Clan techniques were stronger during storms and typhoons. She had tied herself to a firm position and had believed that she was safe, as the raging storms had fallen, as she had been pounded and pelted and soaked from head to bottom in the lifeblood of the sea, in the essence of all liquids, enrapturing her as a cloak, becoming her second skin, she had felt her powers multiply and the strength of her techniques increase tenfold whilst under the raging storm.

In that euphoria, she had made an error in judgment, the ship having jerking to the side roughly, and the rope having snapping, causing her to slam her head into one of the railings as she was tossed overboard. The last thing she had seen before hitting the water and losing consciousness, was her twin, diving straight out with his hand outstretched to catch her, and then – nothing.

Then, they had awoken on this island, millions of miles away from any civilization, with no clue as to where they were, and no means of contacting their father or heading back to the underworld.

It was amusing at first, she had thought with some sort of melancholy, having on one occasion with her friend Rias, discussed the fantastical prospect of being stranded on a deserted island with a handsome male of their choosing, as though they were Robinson Crusoe caricatures, but then they had both laughed and dismissed the idea soon after, considering it a heavily unrealistic and therefore, unworthy fantasy.

Her amusement had died soon after, after their first night without any luck of finding food to eat, and having no choice but to rap around each other in ways that were far, _far_ more intimate than any brother and sister should. Of course, there was no room to question the appropriateness of entangling your legs with your sibling and having your bodies pressed closer together than cloth to iron, when you were absolutely freezing to death, and trying to find some way to stay warm.

The following day of course, was one, to which Sona would never forget. It was a given that her brother was a genius, but there was a difference between being told and between seeing it in action, as he had, in the span of a few hours, collected an assortment of rocks, twigs and other wooden materials which could be considered splinter, and had then proceeded to build a perfect fire, using coconut shells gotten from trees as a makeshift lighter. Then, she had witnessed him head into the forest, and in the span of several hours, he walked out with the dead carcasses of numerous forest animals.

She witnessed him gut, clean, wash and skin the animals like he had been doing it his entire life, even though Sona was certain that they had never undergone this training, and he should have not had such masterful experience of the craft, and following that, he kept the pelts and leather of the animals for them to use as covers for the cold night, whilst Sona, for the very first time in her life, managed to wonder how something roasted over an open fire and seasoned with coconut water and a few leaves and herbs managed to taste so ambrosial.

"Would blaming you change anything?"

The question drew her from her reverie, and made her lips morph into a small thin line.

"No, but in theory, would it not be better to get it off your chest?"

He stopped skinning the animal, pausing for a brief second to stare at her.

"What?"

"Your frustration with our current situation…"

"I'm not frustrated."

She frowned, why was he putting up such a tough front? _Anyone_ would be frustrated with their situation.

"Why would you not be? It has been seventeen days – two weeks and three agonizing days living off the land, sleeping on the sand, eating whatever we can…" she shook her head "…just blame me little brother, pour out the anger and annoyance at it all. I would prefer it to you silently resenting me for this."

"Tch."

The somewhat apathetic sounding grunt that came threw her for a momentary loop, and for a brief second, made her feel annoyed.

"What was that?"

"I'm not frustrated, I don't resent you. Stop painting an image that isn't there."

She frowned, her expression clipping.

"Then perhaps you should stop providing the canvas?"

He turned to her, his eyebrows narrowing.

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"We have been stranded here for seventeen days. You have barely said a single word to me since then – what else am I supposed to think?"

He snorted. "That maybe I'm trying to figure out a way to leave the island? A way to contact father or Sera-nee? A way to teleport back home?"

Sona adjusted her glasses, her fingers trembling. "Unlike father, I am _not_ a mind reader – I cannot hyper-examine every facial twitch you make and come to an accurate conclusion of what you are thinking – "

"Asking isn't a difficult task."

For some odd reason those words struck a bitter chord. She found herself rising, her fists balling.

"All I have ever done is ask." She said. "I ask how you feel, I ask how you are doing, I ask about whether you have eaten, I ask about what bothers you, I ask about why you train intensively, I ask about why you always look so forlorn. I ask and I ask and I ask and all you do, all you have _ever_ done is to tell me _nothing!_ "

She watched, as his face seemed momentarily conflicted, before he eventually shook his head, then, as always, he turned back to whatever he had on hand, as though their conversation was over.

"Typical. Just typical of you brother," Her lips managed to quiver for a second, before she forced it into a straight line "We are supposed to be family, to be siblings – _twins_ , genetic copies in every way, individuals who came into this world together, possessing a tight bond. I love you, Sasuke, I really, _really_ do, but it becomes so hard for me to keep on loving you, when I do not even _know_ you."

 _There, I said it. I finally said it_.

Irony, she noted, realizing perhaps that her insistence on her brother opening up was in fact, a wistful switch of her own desires, her own desire which she had been projecting upon him, of her own frustration with having a twin sibling that was so averse to the concept of communication.

"What…" the words came out of his lips slowly "…would you like to know?"

Sona couldn't help the small twitch of her lips that eventually grew into a slow, tangent smile.

"Everything."

* * *

 _Day 245 of Clan Training Trip_

 _Dear Journal,_

 _Today, I discovered something interesting about my twin Sasuke, he told me a fantastical tale that was so complicated and so well detailed that for a minute, I could not believe it, but then I watched as his eyes seem to spark with a mix of emotions, and as he went so much into detail that I just knew it had to be true. I promised to him not to tell anyone, and I also promised that I would not change the way I saw him because of any of it, so I cannot write it here, in the eventuality that Sera-nee decides to steal you and read it._

 _Also, it turns out that Father knew where we were all along, and the ship was hidden from sight, as he thought that it would be a learning experience for us if we believed we were stranded on an island. Sometimes I question my father's sanity, other times I wonder if he possesses any, but in any case, this is one scenario I am glad he allowed to happen. Sasuke and I spent the remaining time on the Island discussing about his past, and at the same time, talking about some of the numerous times Father's training measures had almost killed us. I added in all the right moments we discussed about, and even some of father's own words, because it would seem unlikely that any of these had happened otherwise:_

 _ **Day 54**_

" _Hah! How can you call yourself a devil that controls the seas if you're scared of some sharks? NOW GET IN THERE AND SHOW THEM WHOSE BOSS!"_

 _ **Day 96**_

" _Breath Control Training. You heard me, thirty minutes in the sea. So what if we're in the Antarctic? GET TO IT!"_

 _ **Day 132**_

" _When I said you should ensure that the giant squid was well and fucked, I did not mean have tentacle sex with it. If you don't want to spend the rest of your life telling your partners about how your virginity was taken by sea food, then KILL IT!"_

 _ **Day 177**_

" _Brats, this is my old friend Cthulhu. Your job today is not to fight him, but to stay alive. Have fun."_

… _Looking back, I do really realize that Father might be insane. Somehow, he and Sasuke seemed to be growing closer and closer together, and I feel glad about that, and even more so, I feel glad that Sasuke was finally able to open up to me enough that we could bond over our mutual fear and hatred of Father's insane training methods._

"What are you doing?"

Sona looked up, finding the subject of her thoughts staring at her, and allowing no small amount of red to seep into her face as she was caught hunched over the table, scribbling her thoughts into her journal.

"Er- Um, I-I am just chronicling our adventures for posterity!"

He wasn't buying it for a second. "You're writing in your diary again aren't you?"

She almost leaped from her seat. "I-I-It's a j-journal!"

He smirked. "Sure it is."

She could feel her entire face going utterly hot, and the warmness could not be reduced by normal means.

"But…" he said, glancing over it "It's good."

She blinked. "What do you – "

What she wanted to say was stopped when he placed his index and middle fingers on her forehead, and actually poked her.

"One day, years from now, I'd look back at all of this, see it from your eyes and remember it."

Why was her face still so warm?!

"W-why from my eyes?"

He smirked at her. "Because."

He turned around, leaving her confused.

"Because what?"

He smirked again. "Just because."

She stared at him, watching as he left with the same coy smirk on his face.

She had sat in the room for several seconds, before frazzling her hair with her hands and then managing to take a deep breath and adjusting her glasses.

 _Dear Journal, it seems that today, I have learned another deep and far greater secret about my twin that I never for once considered._

She dropped down her special ink quill, before staring at the position that he was in, and forcing down the ridiculous amount of embarrassment.

 _Sasuke Sitri… is a troll._


	7. Genii

**So. Here's the thing, I loathe short chapters, but, Short chapters = Super Fast Update Speed, Long Chapters= Slow As Hell Update Speed. There's no balancing it, so I'll mix it up a little. If I have short chapters, expect fast updates.**

 **P.S. Got my first flame for this fic! It was from some laughable individual who went on a childish rant about how he hated stories that had the protagonist tell someone that he was from another world. I saved you the horror of reading that pile of garbage, because I never said I was writing Re:Zero, and the anonymous fellow failed to mention that this was only wrong when done _immediately_ or, to a total stranger, rather than between individuals of a tight bond.**

 **Props go to Darth Lelouch for the partial inspiration of this chapter.**

* * *

 **The Prince of Darkness**

 **Chapter 6:**

 **Genii**

* * *

His twin sister was a little obsessed.

It had been approximately a year since Sasuke had decided to give Sona a portion of his true background. It was a big decision, but Sasuke weighed the benefits versus the disadvantages. The disadvantages were as such, that Sona would tell her father, and in turn, Sinbad would take him over to some facility to be studied under a microscope.

Except he knew for certain that Sinbad was not the type of person to let such things bother him, and Sona was also not an impulsive individual, but someone who thought and reasoned out every action she made.

So that left the advantages. Truth be told, Sasuke was _tired,_ tired of the separation between him and the people of this world, tired of being unable to share his experiences with them, tired of having no one being able to actually grasp the core or essence of who he was and perpetually trapping him in his own self-sustaining cocoon of isolation. He _was_ Uchiha Sasuke, and nothing would or could change that, and Uchiha Sasuke was and still _is_ a core part of his character. It was like a major aspect of him that could not be hidden or locked away or swept under a rug, and his options, were to either take the secret of his previous life to the grave, or to tell them to one person, one, single individual, who would hopefully be able to see past the shock of this realization and come to understand _him_.

The alternative, was to forever live his life, with that secret as it was, a part of him that no one, not his wife with whom he was to share one soul and one body, not his children, not his family, not a single person would ever be able to truly know or grasp _him_. It would be like living a double life, or the effective same as hiding your occupation, hobbies, and cherished moments from _every single individual_ he would ever know, meet, befriend and love.

Essentially, he would be lying, not to just to them, but to himself, for even believing that these people knew who he truly was.

The face of Itachi, Danzo, Orochimaru and Obito came into his vision, and he realized that in an essence, all of them had lied to him in one way or another, and his ruined life was based on the foundations of those lies, some good in intentions, others, not so much.

So the very first thing he had told to Sona, was thus.

"No lies between us. Ever."

And he had truly believed it, except, the bitter reality came when he had lied to her a mere few minutes afterwards, by claiming that he did not remember how he was reincarnated.

He could not tell her about his meeting with Death, nor could he ever tell her about fighting Lucifer. Maybe, in the nearest future, would come clean, but for now, those were untouched waters.

Still, Sasuke had told Sona the truth and he had been anticipating more reaction from the girl, some surprise, disbelief, fear and shock, and at first, the bitter fangs of apprehension had seeped into him, despite her constant reassurances that she loved him, and nothing in the world would change that.

In the end, he decided to go on instinct and decided that it was the right decision, and his instincts said it was okay to trust her. Sona was a test run of sorts… if she acted up, he would remove the memory of telling her completely using the Sharingan, and would then proceed to take his secret of coming from the Elemental Nations to his grave. After all, if he could not trust his own twin to keep his secret, then there was no one else on this planet he could safely trust.

Sona, seemed to be a young girl of logic, and being of that mind, she had taken to it like an inquisitive child would take to the grand tale of knights and dragons.

Only… Sona was the type of child who would ask why the dragon would want to fight the knights in the first place, why they were evil, and why they couldn't just decide to shrug off their ill-fated battle, walk up to the king's door in a thousand dollar suit, and swear that they wouldn't attack, kill or plunder the people, and then implement a tax on this decision.

It was as such that he found her, still embroiled in research hunched over several books, her hair tied into a bun as there was a pencil through it, and her eyes looking as though they hadn't gotten any sleep.

She eventually threw her hands up in frustration.

"Nothing! Absolutely nothing! I have searched for over a year and still found no documentation of any form or sort of an advanced era long before that of current day civilization that boasted of chakra wielding warriors, nor is there any documentation of the mention of a goddess called Kaguya, or a god-fruit tree!"

Sasuke merely found the entire thing amusing. "I told you to stop searching Genie, but you didn't listen."

'Genie' was what he called her from now on. It had originally been used by Sinbad, when he had compared Sona's reading speed to that of an ancient spirit, and for a while after, called her a genie, as a reference to both genius (Latin plural for genius being _genii_ ) and magical awe. Unfortunately, even after Sinbad stopped using it, the nickname had stuck in Sasuke's mind, much to Sona's chagrin.

She turned to him. "It is utterly inconceivable that the lives of an entire race and population of people, as well as their cultures could have been either removed from time or even, for a briefest of seconds, lost in history! The sheer amount of negligence needed to commit such a feat is beyond astounding!"

Sasuke shrugged. "Perhaps this is not the future, but an alternate world entirely."

She stared at him. Sasuke for a few instances was tempted to step back as her eyes bored into him like drills.

"An alternate universe. An alternate universe running on its own mechanics…"

Then all of a sudden her eyes gained stars in them. "An alternate universe in which their origin of power is similar to the Judeo-Christian mythology in the themes of a forbidden fruit, of two sons, two separate paths branching out into diverse futures not unlike our Cain and Abel…"

She was almost giggling at this point and Sasuke _did_ take a step back.

"An entire world stuck in a hybrid of the primitive Japanese era and the modern era, an entire world in which _everyone_ spoke in Japanese, and it was the same custom and traditions all over, despite probable dialectal differences… and alternate world where Chakra is given to everyone, devils and angels had no place in existence, but yet gods of death and demons did."

She then frowned, rising from her seat and shaking her head.

"Other than the numerous flaws and the war-torn state in which child soldiers are sent out to fight under the romanticized guise of an adventurous lifestyle, the existence of the sentient variant lifeforms on another world could be proof that the Multiverse theory is in fact valid. Could be? Most probably is, but there is no such thing as a hundred percent accuracy. Though, you must have been from a different _dimension_ rather than an alternate universe."

She grabbed a small pipe, one that blew bubbles instead of smoke, put it into her mouth and began pacing back and forth.

"But this brings into the question of alternate universes. Alternate Universes are real? Possibly, most likely, if there exists a different dimension of entirely sentient and advanced beings along with a fully functioning society, it is not so much of a stretch to then assume that there is a variant of every world and every time, in which differences and divergences could shoot forth multiple spreading timelines."

The sat back down on the chair, crossing her legs in the reserved lady-like manner, before entering into a thinker-like pose.

"But what spurs forth these divergences? I assume something worthwhile happening like getting violently assaulted would probably spur a timeline in which I become unhinged and mentally unstable if not outright psychopathic, whereas doing something as minor as choosing to eat chocolate instead of vanilla would have no real effect. Then what are the boundaries of what is considered major and minor, who set these boundaries and by what system does 'time' itself begin to judge where to draw the line?"

Sasuke stared at his sister, blinking owlishly. _Am I really the genius of this family?_

"Unless… it is not entirely improbable, and if Father is to be believed, then such grand concepts can take their own corporeal forms, that would mean that there is in fact a metaphysical entity which governs not only the numerous existing timelines, but watches each and every one, and has the concept of past, present and future as meaningless in the grand scale!"

She turned to him, a sudden vigor in her eyes.

"Sasuke, do you know what this means?"

"Of course," he said quickly, before clearing his throat "…but you can explain it to be certain we're thinking the same thing."

"Father explained that the Ocean has a physical concept, a tangible form. Likewise, so does Death and Dreams and Infinity – if these have physical representations, where do we begin to draw the line on what does and doesn't have a physical manifestation?"

He was not particularly the extremely book-smart individual his sister was, nor did he have the same love of Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's works and a flair for solving riddles and mysteries like his twin, but this did not mean that he was by any means slow on the uptake, or unable to draw conclusions as well.

"So, you mean there could be other manifestations of concepts?"

Sona nodded her head enthusiastically.

"Who is to say that Fire does not also have a tangible manifestation? Wind? Lightning? Disease? And maybe even… _Time?_ "

The study room of the _Sinner's Solstice_ fell into a brief, rigid silence as both of them allowed that concept to slowly sink in.

"So you think," Sasuke began, "Somewhere out there, is an old man with a long beard and a pocket watch, who is the physical manifestation of the concept of Time."

"It is not quite much of a stretch considering that there is a _giant red dragon_ that embodies dreams."

Sasuke tilted his head in resignation. "Point."

Sona blinked, before realizing what she was doing, and immediately her cheeks went red, as she dropped the bubble pipe like it was over the melting point of diamond.

"I-I – my a-apologies, I just got so entangled with the possibilities that I could not help myself – I mean, I was just blurting out things without a second thought."

He allowed himself to smirk as he witnessed his sister return to normal. Since he had gotten to know her, he was beginning to realize that Sona was far smarter than she actually let on. Whilst he had a photographic memory with his Sharingan enabled, and a high memory-retention capacity when it was disabled, his sister, in contrast, had an encyclopedic memory, which was combined with a ludicrous mind for tactics, strategy and warfare.

However, since coming on the boat, she had gotten into _science_. There were the few off days that Sinbad gave to them, on these days, Sasuke would work on sword fighting with Captain Jack, and Sona, well, Sona would lock herself up in the study and the library and began to consume as many books as she could. First, it had started with a mild obsession with the Sherlock Holmes series, she had read the novels, but found herself slightly impressed with Sherlock's ability, if not discontent with the fact that all of the mysteries were made in manners that it would be nigh impossible for the readers to solve themselves. Then, she went on to regular mystery novels, but ditched them quickly as she could always predict who the killer was, and it left her feeling unstimulated. Then, by sheer happenstance, she had come upon an old dusty book in the back of the library, which had been written, _Star Wars_.

The girl cleared through the books in record time, then cleared through the movies in record time, then sequels, then animations, then anything and everything she could get her hand on.

Of course, being the girl who would ask why the dragon wasn't an extortionist in a medieval fantasy, she had not been satisfied with merely accepting the Sci-Fi science, and went immediately to research on what was and was not real science, and from there, started learning the techniques and methods, and then from _there_ … well, let's just say that there was no doubt in his mind that his sister could win a Nobel prize in the next twenty years if she _really_ wanted to.

In all honesty, realizing that his sister was every bit the genius that he was gave him some sort of solace, though, their areas of expertise varied, as his was in practical knowledge and fighting, and hers was mostly theoretical.

"So, hypothetically speaking, we somehow meet the embodiment of time," Sasuke said "What would you ask it?"

"The secrets of the origins of the universe."

She said it as though it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"I thought gods created the world?"

Sona shook her head, excitement once more creeping into her voice. "See, I had believed so too, until I recalled father saying that God didn't create the ocean. That water was the one thing that not even he could create – so it stands to reason, what _did_ create the ocean? Did the ocean create itself? Or is there some other answer?"

Before Sasuke could say anymore, the room door was kicked open, and they found a very irate looking Sinbad standing there.

"Oi… I don't think you two understand what it means to be eight year olds. What type of eight year olds spend the weekend off discussing existential issues and the origins of the universe?"

Sasuke and Sona glanced at each other, before they both shrugged.

"Yes, Father."

"That wasn't an answer."

"Yes, Father."

 _Cheeky brats!_

The manner in which they said it in perfect unison somehow managed to grate on Sinbad's nerves even further, the man's eye twitching in annoyance .

"Alright you overly smart brats, you're grounded. You are to spend the rest of the week watching utterly mind-numbing television, playing video games, eating ice-cream and asking me where clouds come from."

He paused.

"And after that, we're going back to the underworld for Venelana Gremory's birthday celebration, and I _expect_ to see you two on the ballroom floor, _dancing_."

They both turned to gape at him.

"Yes family mole, for the next one week you're not allowed to train, and no more sword fighting lessons from Captain Jack, and chibi-glasses, I'm confiscating all your science books. You're eight! What the hell are you even doing with college-level physics textbooks?!"

Sona managed to look distraught at the notion. "Can I at least keep my novels?"

"Yes you ca –" his eyes glanced over to the collection "No, no more dystopian fiction, no more murder mysteries, and no more sci-fi. For hell's sakes, read some romance like a normal eight year old!"

"Eight year olds don't read romance!"

He gaped at her. "HOW WOULD YOU KNOW?!"


	8. Home

**Fun Fact: Apparently, there is no real 'time' in the Underworld and the Satans are the ones who manipulate it or line it up to match with time on earth or real world. Also, I have now begun reading the Light Novels of High School DxD and just realized how much important material that is lost in the anime adaptation. Quite a shame.**

* * *

 **The Prince of Darkness**

 **Chapter 7:**

 **Home**

* * *

To Sitri Sasuke, home was a feeling not a place.

The young boy gazed out of the window of the Sitri Clan owned train, finding his eyes a mix between amazement and disbelief as there were banners and flags and all sorts of assorted different designs and celebrations owned by the small folk of the Sitri Territory, as they welcomed, what was essentially, their Lord and their Prince and Princess back into the land.

Their nineteen month training trip had actually gone on longer than it was supposed to, striking twenty five months, and the nine year old Sitri Sasuke could only say that he was almost a completely different person from when they had begun their trip, a whole two years ago. Sinbad had loved the sea, probably as much as he loved the freedom of travel, and Sasuke had been able to find a kindred soul with his father in that aspect, and in turn, along with his sister they had traveled the world and had so many experiences in those twenty five months.

From tasting the foreign African spices and meals to fleeing from the continent when Sinbad had angered Shango, a thunder god, to battling giant squids and seaweed titans in the surrounding waters around Japan, and proceeding to enjoy an overabundance of seafood. There had been no aspect of the world that they had not traveled to, easily made so with their ship and Captain Jack's magic, they had swam laps in the Antarctic, evaded reclusive and angry elves and reindeer in the South Pole, strode across open plains and grasslands, evaded angry Amazonian warriors in Brazilian rainforests –

When Sasuke looked back, he realized that a majority of their training had composed of them evading from one supernatural being or another that attempted to kill them, due to Sinbad's extremely bad habit of challenging and outwitting said beings for shits and giggles.

Sasuke took in a deep breath of air, feeling his lungs inflate with air, and then he exhaled, the process coming out into the form of a small sigh.

The Sitri Clan Territory was large, as a matter of fact, several devils owned territory large enough to be considered entire countries, whilst others possessed enough to be their own continent. There were no Oceans in the Underworld, and it covered the same vast amount of landmass as the human world, but without oceans, there was an abundance of land, so much in fact that it was almost completely normal for a single clan or man to own territory that was the equivalent of numerous counties. If Sasuke was to estimate the Sitri Clan Territory to a location in the human world, he would roughly estimate it to be the size of Texas.

Of course, one would assume that the Sitri Clan was in fact a _smaller_ and _less_ wealthy clan than the famous (or infamous) Gremory Clan, but they could not be further from the truth. The Gremory Clan only came into _true_ prominence with the marriage of Lord Zeoticus Gremory to Lady Venelana Bael, as the Bael Family's staple 'Power of Destruction' then therefore came into possession of the Gremory Clan. However, before this had happened, the Gremory Clan had merely been a clan of kind devils, one that were ostracized and looked down on by all other Clans, they had no real special traits or staples other than great magical control.

In contrast, the Sitri Clan had always been in prominence, with the likes of "Sinbad of the Red Seas" being the son of what was apparently a magnanimously known tyrannous devil. It had come as a bit of a shock to Sasuke to learn that his grandfather had been… well, _evil_. He was a tyrant, pure and simple, one that put the likes of Genghis Khan to shame.

It probably explained why Sinbad was slightly unhinged.

"Alright brats, we're finally home."

Sasuke was drawn from his recollection as their father stood, approaching him and his sister, who had spent the entirety of the trip furiously scribbling and jotting and drawing different ideas and theories in her journal.

"This has been a mostly successful trip," Sinbad said, stroking his beard "I think you two may have grown much stronger from it all. Now there's a glint in your eyes that looks nothing like the dull blink two years ago."

He then proceeded to clap his hands together.

"However, there is one thing you two should note, on no circumstances, _ever_ are you to tell your mother the specifics of our little training trip."

He gave them blank stares.

"Ever."

Sasuke merely shrugged, and Sona – well, Sona was too busy drawing the designs for a possible invention to have paid much heed to it.

Sinbad didn't seem to mind, instead he merely sighed.

"Well then, welcome back to the fabulous lives of the upper class devil society."

If there was a contest for lackadaisical hand twirling, Sinbad would easily win first prize.

"Whoop-dee-doo."

Sasuke resisted the urge to smirk, instead he rolled his eyes at his father's antics, and then watched, as the man all but transformed, his eyes becoming sharper, his gait becoming straight and poised and his posture for once actually matching the long, elegant dark-blue two-tailed coat he wore, having put on a pair of gloves as well for good measure, and his spectacles practically glistened as though it was a well sharpened measure.

Sona snapped her journal with a close, putting it into her purse, and Sasuke as well smoothened his ruffled pants as he gazed at his own reflection in the mirror, wearing a dark blue button up shirt and a black suit, with a matching pair of trousers and black suede shoes, he felt utterly stuffy in the extremely formal outfit, and was all but tempted to simply slacken it all.

He took in a deep breath, letting his face fall into the most bland, expressionless type he could muster, his eyes becoming cold, his lips entering a position that made it easy to morph into a sneer, and his gait falling into one of utter reserve and apathy.

"Feeling nervous brother?"

He turned, finding his sister, being dressed in a beautiful, knee-length blue gown and her hair being kept in place by a blue pin, her eyes also possessing the same dull splendor that she was known for.

He snorted at her question. "Why would I be?"

"We have not been home in two years, and we have not interacted with anyone really except for father, Captain Jack and his first mate Popsie." She said, her tone being one of usual keen observation "Going from that, to suddenly having the eyes of numerous people watching our every move and every discretion can be… offsetting."

Sasuke's lips twitched. Sona was someone who wasn't exactly easy to open up, and over time, he had learned that she would often try to use him as a form of channel or rebound station to voice her own emotions. He could tell that _she_ was nervous, and the best way for her to make it clear as to why she felt that way was to ask if _he_ felt that way.

"Treat them as though they're not worth our time."

She blinked. "Would that work in our favor? Would it not make it seem as though we are being too snotty and spoiled?"

"Genie –"

"I for one do not wish to have everyone believe that we believe we are above the rest due to our superior wealth and due to mere happenstance of birth. What if we eventually lose the loyalty of our serfs for that reason? What if they decide to brand us as tyrants and rebel?"

"Genie –"

"I am not even particularly sure how we should act – do we wave towards them or is that being too formal? Do we smile and laugh? But that would seem too forced and make us appear insincere, as though we are condescendingly mocking them –"

"Genie –"

"I mean, we have not been seen in the public eye for over two years, what is expected of us? Do we act the part of benevolent heirs or should we be unsympathetically cold? Showing benevolence may make us more approachable to the populace but also easier for them to take us for granted, but the reverse could make us more respected and feared rather than loved –"

" _Sona._ "

He shook his head as he watched her turn her gaze to him, snapping out of her introspection as her eyes fell upon his amused smirk. He found it humorous to a certain degree as he witnessed her cheeks gain a healthy ting of red to them upon the realization that she had been rambling again.

"Just be yourself."

She stared at him, blinking before letting out a small giggle. "I think that is the most movie-line-esque thing you have ever said brother."

He shrugged. "Father _did_ make us watch those old classics."

Sona shuddered, her hands awkwardly rubbing her arms. "I do not think I can ever sit through a movie about singing princesses with animal companions _ever_ again."

He smirked. "You're the one who thought the action movies weren't good."

Sona's lips twitched. "You can only watch an automobile explode so many times before you get tired brother."

He saved his rebuttal for another time, seeing as they had finally emerged from the train, Sasuke had to squint his eyes upon the bright sunlight striking them, and eventually, he heard a magnificent roar of a crowd behind them, blinking as he watched the numerous people of the Sitri Territory who had come to see them, seeing as how this was technically their first ever debut in public as the children of Sinbad Sitri, and potential clan heirs of the Sitri Clan.

He had to admit to himself, that hearing thousands of people wave and chant his name was an experience that he was not quite used to, and one that put in a spark of emotion in his stomach that he couldn't quite identify.

Ahead of him, walking in a gait that would send professional runway models screeching and clawing at themselves in utter envy was Sinbad, who managed to look the _most_ professional and serious out of all of them, and for a few seconds, Sasuke blinked, wondering if the laidback, slightly insane and utterly lazy man had somehow been abducted and replaced by this highly competent doppelganger.

Sasuke, to his merit, found it surprisingly easy to mirror Sinbad's steps, though he made his own gait one that was slower and heavier, as if each stride of his feet was a testament to how the earth seemed to be willing to bend to his own will.

In contrast, Sona walked like one would expect a gymnast turned professional-business woman, as though her entire no-nonsense persona had pervaded to the external layer and proceeded to cover her entire body in a sheen that could only be understood by those fluent in body language.

The trio did eventually cross the massive bridge that separated the Sitri Clan Castle – which was on its own private island in the middle of the territory, complete with a moat – from the main land, and they found, awaiting them eagerly at the gate, a convent of maids, complete in their respective uniforms, and of course, their mother, Shifra Sitri.

Shifra Sitri was a young beautiful woman that looked to be in her early twenties, and Sasuke wagered a guess that Shifra was what Serafall would look like, if his elder sister had a more 'mature' or 'womanly' appeal, and of course, had long flowing _waist_ length hair tied neatly into braids, and had the same piercing purple eyes. Her nails were long and black, clearly indicating that she constantly had them done, and she wore what Sasuke could only estimate was a luscious sapphire-shaded gown that would not have been out of place in a Shakespearean production than in common, everyday life. The heels she wore were also long, and gave the Uchiha-turned-Sitri pause as to how women in this world or in general, could even comfortably walk with those monstrosities.

She had what Sasuke could identify as a fan in hand, one that was eerily reminiscent of the type used by a certain sister of the Kazekage, albeit being nowhere near that size, and being violet in color.

"Sinbad."

"Shifra, darling."

Sasuke watched, one brow raised as his father approached his mother, and she seemed, for all of a few seconds to lean in for a kiss. Only for her to stop halfway, and then place her fingers under his chin.

"You let your beard grow, _again_. We spoke about this, you are not a pirate captain dear, nor should you endeavor to look like one."

Sinbad managed to cough into his palm. "Of course, darling. I will shave it before the event tonight."

Sasuke and Sona shared a look.

Their father enjoyed having that beard, he'd often stroke it exaggeratedly when thinking, and often times when travelling, and he'd wear a fake moustache that managed to stylize it even further.

"Sona! Goodness gracious your posture is dreadful!" Shifra said, "You are a young beautiful girl, not a struggling professional wrestler with the jitters! We will have to work on that immediately!"

She snapped her fan close, and Sona could merely, simply nod.

"Yes, mother."

"And we will have to do something about your hair as well. It appears as you have been washing it with seawater."

"Yes, mother."

"And it seems you are still deficient in that much desired muliebrity, and being surrounded by men for so long undoubtedly has not helped."

Sasuke found his lips thinning into a fine line as he listened to Shifra. He did not know if Death had considered it utterly humorous to place him in a family in which his new parents were the antithesis of his old ones, or it was _sheer_ happenstance, but that was up for debate.

"Sasuke." She turned to him.

"Yes mother?"

"How fares your musical aptitude? Your father assured me that you had not been slacking off whatsoever."

He caught Sinbad's gaze, and the man actually managed to look as completely innocent as a newborn baby, forcing Sasuke to ignore the twitch in his eye. Oh, Sinbad would definitely owe him one for this.

"It has been well mother."

She seemed to nod appreciatively. "Very well."

She turned around. "I am certain your journey has been ever so long and arduous," she clapped, and the maids then bowed as they gestured towards the castle "take your time to freshen up, after which lunch will be waiting, and then we shall have to leave for the Gremory Territory not long after."

Sasuke noticed her gaze fall on himself and his twin. "There are several individuals keen on meeting you two, _especially_ you Sasuke. Nine-years is quite the amount of time to go without possessing or knowing any acquaintances your own age. Ensure that is rectified tonight."

Sasuke 'smiled'.

"Yes, mother."


	9. Children

**Author's Note: A true Christmas miracle, which is me returning to this fic. Alas, this chapter is short, because I'm trying to re-adjust my writing to the tone and theme of this particular story before I start bringing out the big guns and longer chapters. But as it is the festive season, I intend to keep it enjoyable.**

 **To the new readers, this is my Sasuke-centric story with Redemption!Sasuke inspired by Illusionary Reality's The Melody of the Wanderer, and I hope you've enjoyed it so far.**

* * *

 **The Prince of Darkness**

 **Chapter 8:**

 **Children**

* * *

It had been three hours since arriving home, and Sasuke was about ready to lose it.

"Ah, young master Sasuke! What are you doing in the kitchen? If there is anything you want, I can get it for you."

"No, young master! You do not need to make that bed, allow me to call the maid."

"Fear not young master, you do not need to stand up to get the remote, I can aid you with that task."

"Would you like a cup of tea young master? Or a glass of juice? Perhaps I can get you some of the finest beverages! And of course, there are some vintage wine that you might be interested in – what? Surely you jest, you are a young lord of the Sitri Clan; there is no age restriction on something as mediocre as drinking!"

"Lunch will be ready soon young master, we are preparing a local Italian delicacy – ah, you want… Pizza my lord? I am afraid we do not have that in stock and I am not certain Lady Shifra would approve…"

"We are loyal handmaidens young master, our sole purpose is to wash you with our bodies – you need not exert yourself, allow us to truly clean you up young master."

"I can wash myself. Leave."

"But young master –"

Lightning crackled around his form.

" _Now."_

It was at this point, that Sasuke found himself inside a large bath tub, his palm dragging down his face easily in frustration as he tried to eliminate the arousing image of the three naked maids who had offered to wash him. Their apparent lack of concern over their own nudity aside, Sasuke certainly did not feel comfortable sharing such close level of skin-ship with what were essentially total strangers, even if they were supposedly long-time family servants.

"It feels a little… _overbearing_ does it not?"

To his credit, he barely blinked when he spotted his twin enter into the bathroom, disrobing as she kept her glasses to his side and she approached the tub.

"What are you doing?"

"We have seen each other naked numerous times brother –"

"Not _that_ ," Sasuke corrected, having glossed over his sister's nudity without batting an eyelash "What are you doing _here_? Do you _want_ to add fire to father's conspiracy that we're attracted to each other?"

She snorted. "Hardly. Though, it is admittedly funny to watch him scratch his head as he tries to figure out if we are or if we are not."

She joined him in the tub, which was easily large enough to fit at least six people and positioned herself at his back easily.

"But to be certain, you do _not_ have such thoughts towards me do you?"

Sasuke snorted. "I'm not the one who gets naked and joins you in the bath."

She giggled. "Touché. But we are _nine_ , I am certain if we were not raised as devils, this would be significantly much more innocent than it is in our minds now."

Sasuke found that sentiment surprisingly true. Devils were genetically designed to tempt men, to make them fall prey to sin, to divert their paths from holiness and righteousness and make them become either servants or partners to their own carnal desires. Due to this nature, devils matured much faster than one would expect humans to, and as Sasuke had found out, despite being only nine years of age, his mind was able to know the difference between what was meant to be sexually stimulating and what wasn't. Even before then, it wasn't as though the television shows meant for devil _children_ had bothered to hide their blatant oversexualized themes and characters, because they were not _human_ , they did not see the need to be sexually conservative. It had reached the point in the devil underworld that being sexually conservative was actually _frowned_ upon, and the only 'proud' virgins that existed were the daughters and heirs of prominent clans, and this was only so because they were expected to be married off, and had higher 'value' as an untouched virgin.

Sasuke's mind allowed itself to come into slight peace as his older sister helped wash his back with a sponge, and he found himself reflecting on his own thoughts. The Underworld was surprisingly misogynistic, and heavily not just sexist, but patriarchal. Men could have harems, but women doing so was not commonplace and was found offsetting, women were often lulled into arranged marriages more often than their male counterparts, and the value of 'virgins' was exclusive to females alone, whereas, the younger a male devil managed to have sex, the more revered he was amongst his peers, and he got extra points for it if the woman he had sex with was beautiful. Of course no one would question the context of a nine year old devil-pureblood boy sleeping with a hot thirty-something year old, but everyone would lose their minds if it was a nine year old devil-pureblood girl that did the same thing with a thirty year old man.

Hypocritical, judgmental, self-serving, horny and devoid of shame – they were devils indeed.

"Does it not feel weird?"

Sasuke rose an eyebrow. "You're the one who chose to wash my back."

She rolled her eyes. "Not this. _Them_ – the servants, the maids. The entire time on our trip with Father, we cooked our own meals, _caught_ our own meals, did our own laundry, ate what we wanted when we wanted how we wanted."

She paused, frowning. "We never cared about how we looked or what we wore and we even survived on an island by ourselves – to go from that freedom and self-sufficiency to _this_ –"

Sasuke let out a low grumble. "They treat us like we're children."

Sona managed to look amused. "We are."

" _You_ are."

Sona rose an eyebrow, until her gaze seem to remember that he was not in fact, actually nine. His mental age should be closer to twenty-six than nine.

"You do realize brother, that now that I remember about your past life… bathing with you feels…"

Sasuke scoffed. "Trust me genie, there's nothing remotely arousing about your body."

Her eye twitched. "I… should perhaps be content with the confirmation that my brother is not a pedophile, but instead, I feel strangely offended."

"Yet."

Sona's brow rose for the second time in their conversation.

"There's nothing remotely arousing about your body… _yet._ "

"Careful brother – it is comments such as those that makes people start thinking we're attracted to each other."

"Tch," Sasuke frowned "People will think what they want. They make their own assumptions and fall prey to them. I can't be bothered to limit myself from saying or doing something because of what _people might think_."

Sona's eyes twinkled with slight mirth. "Is that why you threatened to electrocute the washmaids?"

"They offered to _wash me_."

"Well yes, they _are_ washmaids. What else did you expect?"

"To not be treated like a helpless child."

That was truly the one thing he wanted the most from the people of the Sitri household.

"Father never treated us like that."

He paused, the thought occurring to him.

Perhaps, Sasuke noted, that was what had made the man so endearing. He never once cosseted them or pampered them like they were fragile eggs that could crack at the faintest nudges, instead, his treatment of them could even be said to be borderline abusive, though, the _fun_ kind, as everything he did was in tough love, whether it was forcing them to outswim killer whales and orcas, or testing their breath control in frigid Antarctic waters, he made sure to never let true harm come to them, but at the same time, never babied them.

Sona then let out a sigh. "I will speak to mother and Sera-nee about the servants treatment later… though I do not think anything I say will make much of a difference."

Sasuke let out a single hum. The mention of his eldest sister straying his mind away, as the use of a Japanese honorific was one of the few things he would admit, well, not quite _missing_ , but something close to it. They called Serafall 'Sera-nee' at the girl's behest, affixing the Japanese honorific unto her name as befitting her hobby as a Magical Girl, who, possessed her own entire show. Likewise, Serafall also utilized affectionate Japanese suffixes for them as well, a feat which was somewhat considered strange by others, as all devils were multilingual and were able to communicate with humans in the language that was most familiar to them.

"It's your turn to wash my back brother."

The transition was automatic. His mind did not register the change, the splashing of warm water, the rising of steam nor the adjustment of bodies. The action occurred easily, as though it were a daily monotonous task such as the brushing of one's teeth or the ironing of clothes. He was behind her, his hands a frothy mess of lathered soap, his eyes trailed on her spine and her petite form.

Like a rook or queen traversing across ranks and files, his soap covered hands descended on her body. A brief shudder escaped her lips once his hands voyaged lower, causing a slight tic of his eyebrow.

"If you're going to make this weird, I'll stop now."

He did not have the experience for this situation. Skin-ship had always been something considered sacred to him, and amongst the Uchiha Clan, privacy was favored over any possible avenues for bonding. He could not recall a time, in which Mikoto possessed a warm smile as she placed him into a tub brimming with water, as the sounds of a running tap echoed and a small, rubber duck floated across like paper ships sent on voyage by eager children. He most certainly could not ever recall possessing an acquaintance in the miniature vessel that was a tub, a fellow adventurer in the quest for cleanliness. The only suitable candidate, was his brother, yet, at the time when children were supposed to be giddy to take baths together, Itachi's showers were taken in private. It allowed him wash off the blood of his fallen enemies without disturbance.

Part of Sasuke had always wondered, what went through Itachi's mind after he had come back from those missions? What did he think about the numerous people he had killed? _Did_ he think about the numerous people about killed? Lives he had ended? Loves he had destroyed? Childhoods he had possibly ruined? Or had he felt, convicted, unshakable, that as long as his actions were in defense of Konoha, that as long as all the deeds he had committed were done so as to protect something he cherished – that it did not matter?

Their clan was cursed, cursed and blessed in one breath. The eyes which had made them revered, iconic, made their name be muttered with fear and with trepidation, made them both venerated and despised – it was as much as their greatest weakness as it was their greatest strength. With their eyes, they could remember every detail of their lives from the moment the eyes were unlocked, to the moment of their death, with outstanding clarity which made it as though the memories were always fresh.

Consumed with revenge as he had been, the people he had killed in service for Orochimaru, and the atrocities he had seen – all of it had been ignored, pushed aside in favor of fanning the slow, sizzling flames of his vengeance.

He also wondered, a stray thought amongst a massive fleet of vagrant ideas, just how many people had suffered because of him?

And the thought, hovering slightly above his conscience, nagging slowly and painfully on his mind, breathing down his neck like a starved hound, was how – how was it fair, that he had been given a chance to absolve himself of his sins, to live a relatively simpler and peaceful life – whereas they, his victims, would be forced to continue to live with their scars?

"Sasuke."

His attention was brought back by the simple word.

"Your hands are…"

He stared. He had been lost in thought, as such, he had not particularly been paying attention to his hands, or rather, and he had not been paying attention to where his hands strayed, as his body had entered auto-pilot in the task of washing Sona's back.

As such, there was a rather terse moment of silence.

The door had also chosen that unfortunate moment to slam open.

"My two favorite munchkins in the world are back! So-tan! Sasu-chan! Come give your nee-san a big hu –"

Serafall Leviathan stood at the door, sentence abruptly cut off as her eyes turned to the scene which lay before her. Sasuke and Sona – together, in the bath, with Sasuke's hands very clearly grabbing Sona's chest.

"SASU-CHAN! SO-TAN! HOW COULD YOU?!"

Sasuke slowly let out a groan.

"Sera-nee, this isn't what you thi–"

The girl huffed, not even listening to him. "How could you start sexy-Sitri-sibling bonding time without me? No fair!"

By the time the older, and much, _much_ , sexually developed girl had stripped off her clothes –

He realized, that should anyone he had ever wronged, see him now –

"CANNONBALL!"

They would feel perfectly vindicated.


	10. Diverging Paths

**Author's Note: Finally trying to return to fan fiction. Apologies for the delay, and for any cobwebs or rust that may have accumulated in my absence. Do enjoy.**

* * *

 **The Prince of Darkness**

 **Chapter 9:**

 **Diverging Paths**

* * *

Sona did not like huge events.

From the very second they arrived, they had become the star attraction, or at least, a small part of her pride would like to believe that _she_ was also part of the star attraction, but she knew that to be highly untrue. Everyone was interested in Sasuke, he had been met by the likes of Riser Phenix and Sairaorg Bael, wanting to judge him for his strength, then soon afterwards their parents had approached him as well, wishing to judge him for his character, then more and more devils came forward, asking him questions from something as mundane as what his favorite food was to something as heavy as who he was contemplating as a potential love interest or partner.

Of course, all of these questions were asked in ways that either wrapped them in disguise as something else, or utterly made it seem as though they were innocuous statements that had no subtler meaning. Some were vague, others were blatant, and it had reached a point in which she was worried for her brother, but she found her fears immediately unfounded.

"No."

"I have not contemplated it."

"Perhaps."

"Not in the nearest conceivable future."

"If my father wills it."

"It sounds interesting."

She watched him, with those five responses, shoot down or divert nearly any and all questions that would have incriminated or otherwise bound him to some form of verbal agreement with the people speaking with him. He was utterly unflappable, his eyes and gaze cold and hardened, his lips fixed into an eternal thin line, and his gait and stance like someone who was ready to take on tsunamis and use them to run power stations.

Sona knew for a fact that their parents _allowed_ this to continue, or at least, Shifra did, and had told Sinbad not to interfere. Everyone lapped up Sitri Sasuke as though he was some sort of unforeseen, mystic that had the power to grant them their hearts desires.

It was perfectly natural for them to be interested in her little brother was it not? He did have a tremendous gift with music after all, and Sona was content, with sitting at the sidelines, watching as everyone approached her brother, whilst she drank some wine from a fancy fountain.

She was content. Why wouldn't she be?

Eventually, she had born witness to Venelana Gremory, the celebrant, and her mother striking up conversation like they were old friends. It was at this point, that Rias had followed, with vivid red hair, an enchanting smile and face, dressed in a brilliant gown, which, to Sona's chagrin, she could already see the small bumps appearing on the girl's chest, even though they were the same age.

Still, the sight of the one person in this entire place who actually knew her and would give her the time of day managed to fill Sona with much, much joy, though she would never admit it to her friend.

"Sona!"

"Rias." She greeted formally, and the girl embraced her in a hug, the close contact once more sending the ever so annoying reminder to Sona that her friend was more developed than her in certain areas. No nine year old should be so well-endowed in Sona's humble opinion.

"It's been two years! You – you're looking great! How has it been? When you stopped sending the letters several months ago, I had thought –"

She had paused, mid-sentence, as it occurred to her all of a sudden that she had somehow missed the person right beside Sona, and she gave him a quick once over, before blinking.

"Rias, this is my twin – Sasuke. Sasuke, this is Rias – my friend I told you about."

Her brother, for his part, gave a brief, unimpressed and uninterested nod of the head to Rias, who was still staring at him for several seconds.

Her brother wasn't _that_ attractive was he?

"O-oh, Sasuke is it? N-nice to meet you."

Sona found her irritation grow by the second. Rias _stuttered_. Rias _never_ stuttered.

"Ah Sasuke, I see you have met young Rias here."

Shifra chose that exact moment to step in, which felt a tad bit too contrived for Sona's taste.

"Both Rias and her mother have been very interested in the rumors surrounding your musical ability, as are numerous other guests. Perhaps you would not mind entertaining them?"

Sona wanted to object, she truly did, she had sat down, awkwardly sipping drinks throughout the entire party, watching as people approached her brother for numerous reasons, and then the one person who she _actually_ knew and was her actual friend had finally come up to talk to her, but her mother wanted her to talk to Sasuke instead?

Yet, her objection never left her mouth, she swallowed down her own thoughts and sentiments, and watched as Sasuke left, moving unto the grand piano center stage, and then he began to play.

The gathered devils and the birthday queen herself, Lady Venelana, watched as her brother began, his fingers effortlessly gliding across the instrument, each stroke and each key matching perfectly to what Sona could idly recognize as Beethoven's Fifth, and in no time, the entire large ballroom was filled to the brim with wet-eyed devils.

"Beautiful!"

"I've heard the song a thousand times, but never with such passion!"

"At such a young age no less!"

"With such skills and looks, he could easily become the Underworld's most eligible bachelor when he grows up."

"The Sitri Clan's future certainly is bright with him as their head!"

Sona wondered why her chest was suddenly feeling icy cold, and why she could feel some precipitation on her palms.

"Oh, but I heard he is the _younger_ twin. He may not end up being the Clan Heir."

"Really? Who is the older twin then?"

"Oh, just some antisocial little bookworm. She's nothing special."

"Ah, that's a shame. The parents must be disappointed."

Sona found herself leaving the ballroom. Her legs rebelled against her body. Her chest felt icy cold. It was as though serpents gathered and coiled around her lungs. Every intake was pain and every exhale was torture. Her throat burned, a heavy, thick lump forming within it that would not go down no matter how hard she swallowed.

' _I love Sasuke._ '

' _I love my brother_.'

' _Nothing can change that._ '

' _Nothing can change that_.'

This was the mantra that she found herself often repeating in her mind, whenever her brother performed some great feat that she could never truly hope to attain, whenever certain events seemed to want to pull on the relationship between them, or when other particular activities had put a damper on her spirits.

She could almost picture him, walking up to her, with his usually unsure expression that he wore when he was out of his elements in emotions and asking her, _"Genie, you okay?"_

She let out a sardonic chuckle.

She hated that nickname, she _really_ , _really_ did.

As per their agreement of no lies, she had told him that she found it annoying, but he had taken it as the initiative to keep on calling her that. She found the nickname to be patronizing at best and a blatant lie at worse, one which Sinbad had sprung up whilst halfway through a dinner and on the spur of the moment.

After the one time she told him that she did not like it, she had not mentioned it again, particularly because there was a small part of her that argued that Sasuke found it endearing, and the fact that he actually cared enough to use a nickname to address her meant that he cared for her. It was what she wanted, it was all she had dreamed of over three years ago, when her own brother barely spared her the time of the day and she could wish nothing more than to for once have him glance her way and smile.

She only wished that the nickname didn't have to be something that sounded so mockingly insincere, even when he wasn't actually trying to be. She wasn't a genius, no, everything she had learned and acquired was through painstaking hours of reading and research through the nights, through repeated trial and error, all because of her own innate fear of being left behind by the _true_ genius. If her brother was not so talented, she would not need to work so hard in order to catch up, to have used her book-smarts as a way to even the playing field, and make it seem, at the very least, that they could stand together, on equal footing.

The very fact that she felt that she needed to be on _equal_ footing with her younger brother was one of the few things that chipped away at her slowly, because she was fooling herself if for one brief minute, she believed she could be his _superior_.

And even then, for all her efforts, she was an " _antisocial little bookworm_."

She grit her teeth and shook her head. Sinbad had mentioned it, he had said it that he would eventually end up leaving her in the dust, one way or another, but there was a difference to being left in the dust by your twin, and being so utterly outshone that she could not even reside in his shadow.

She came to a stop in front of a fountain, staring vacantly at her reflection in the water. Could she really blame them? Any of them? With her glasses, her stony-faced expression, her lack of development compared to other females her age, her lack of significant talent –

How could she compare to him?

She almost laughed at herself as she knelt in front of her reflection.

In hindsight, what real hope did she have when he was essentially the reincarnation of a god-level being from another world?

How could she beat that?

Her fist struck against the water, against her reflection, paying no heed to how her midnight-blue gown got splashed.

It wasn't fair.

She struck again.

It wasn't fair.

And again. And again. And again.

 _It wasn't fair._

* * *

 ** _Xx Prince xX_**

* * *

Thick, echoing applause filled the Gremory Family's event hall. Shifra watched, unable to hide the pride that exuded from her as she watched the applause that resounded around her son. Her pride grew further, once she noticed that tear-stained eyes of certain individuals, and she found others, dabbing hankerchiefs at the corners of their eyes, moved to tears from hearing nothing but a brilliant musical composition.

She did not know how her son did it, she did not know what sort of impeccable talent that could allow him to remaster the works of great musicians and play it as though it were his own. She had no clue as to the source of the mystical dancing notes that would break through the barriers of the mind and soul and turn devils into weeping, exuberant fanatics, like a young mother witnessing her child's graduation.

Still, she bathed in it. She bathed in the applause provided to her son, the applause and recognition provided to her family. Sasuke stood from his place at the piano, taking a deep, formal bow. His expression was one that Shifra had never been able to read, and as much as it irked her that she could never understand the thought-process or comprehend the emotions of her own son, she was glad for it in this instance. Had he presented a face of satisfied cockiness, it would have marred the brilliance of his performance. Had he presented a visage of deep exhaustion, it would have ruined the nigh-effortlessness appearance of his composition. Had he, devil's forbid, been exuberant, or gleeful, or shown any sort of personal enjoyment of his own work, all of his professionalism would have evaporated as steam in the wind.

But this expression of his – cold, unreadable, _indifferent_ – when also blended into place with his unarguable handsomeness, had lend to the notion, the belief, and the establishment that Sasuke Sitri merely _did not care._

To Sasuke Sitri, the act of rendering Beethoven, Mozart and Bach into a triplet of sniveling amateurs, begging and groveling in the gutters for a taste of his talent… _was banal_.

She could already see it in the eyes of the other devil's present, scrutinizing him for any sign or any indication that he was even slightly winded, or that his performance had taken effort, and they would find none. None in the slightest. That fact, of course, would only sky-rocket her son's value.

"Wonderful! Wonderful! Wonderful!"

Shifra's eyes shot over to the sound of the voice, noticing her friend and birthday celebrant, Venelana, clapping eagerly at the display. More importantly however, was the fact that her _son_ was also beside her, as well as her husband and both of them seemed incredibly pleased.

"Sinbad, dear."

She called to her own husband, and he nodded, almost completely minutely. They had long since learnt how to read each other and understand what the other wanted without ever needing to communicate.

She immediately moved forward, taking a place beside her own son, and allowing a smile to form on her face with practiced ease. She stood at his right, and, immediately afterwards, Sinbad stood at his left.

"My, if anything Shifra, the rumors of your son's musical ability was _understated_." Venelana said with a large smile, "I've never heard music so beautiful before."

She never allowed her own smile to leave her lips, even as she turned her gaze to her son. Sasuke was not the most social person, and while he had been able to cover up that flaw of his with a veneer of aloofness and disinterest, this was a situation where showing any of those two things would be seen as highly disrespectful. She needed to handle this with care, and to ensure that no one even possessed a reason to suspect that her son was not properly trained at handling the complex socio-political climates of devil society.

"Nor will you ever again," Shifra spoke up, her voice mellow, her smile never leaving her lips. "At least, not so publically. Sasuke here is the greatest musical prodigy in the underworld, so we can't have him performing for just _anyone_."

Venelana's lips twitched. "Ah, but I'm not just _anyone_ , now am I Venelana?"

"I suppose," she said, her own lips curling and her eyes closing. "But, since you are such a dear friend of mine, perhaps if we were to work out an agreement later on, you would get to listen to such musical melodies as much as you want."

Venelana smiled. "I believe I would like that as well."

 _Perfect_.

It was all about marketing, Shifra knew. As it stood, she had very publicly hinted at the possibility of an alliance between the Sitri Clan and the Gremory Clan, two clans as of which, had two of their members currently among the four Satans. The Sitri Clan did not have much in the way of special powers except for their special alignment towards water magic the likes of which no one else in the Underworld could conjure. However, presenting a new player to the table in the form of her son, whose magical prowess with music _may or may not_ be hereditary, would definitely increase the Sitri Clan's value in the eyes of the underworld. Now, all she needed to –

"You're the Lucifer?"

Shifra steeled her emotions to prevent the shock that ricocheted through her from hearing her son speak up. More than that, from hearing Sasuke speak up, and then pointedly, and directly address Sirzechs, with not the slightest bit of respect in his tone.

Sirzechs for his part, merely smiled, before bending down to Sasuke's level.

"Yes, Sasuke-kun. And I must say, I am impressed with your music."

"You can't play?"

The question threw everyone for a loop. "Er… no." Sirzechs said with a laugh. "I can't play any instruments unfortunately."

"Then why are you the Lucifer?"

Shifra decided she needed to end this here and now. " _Sasuke,_ the title of Lucifer is granted to the _strongest devil_ in the underworld. It, unfortunately has nothing to do with musical talent."

The boy's eyes seemed to widen for a second, before he turned his attention back to Sirzechs.

"The strongest devil?"

"That's me."

"You don't look it."

 _Silence._

Shifra was doing her best not to grind her teeth at her son's comment, and she turned to the side, knowing full well that her husband Sinbad, was finding the situation immensely amusing, and he looked as though he was a few seconds away from cackling out loud.

 _Don't you dare_ , she shot at him. _Don't you dare laugh Sinbad._

On the other end, she could tell that Zeoticus Gremory was also holding back his mirth, whilst Venelana placed a hand in front of her mouth to prevent her giggling from appearing too obvious.

"Oh? How did you think the strongest devil would look?"

 _Oh no –_ Shifra snapped her gaze to her son, practically _daring_ him to answer that question –

Sasuke shrugged.

He couldn't. He _wouldn't_.

"Less girly."

 _He did._

* * *

"Come now dear, even you _have_ to admit that Sirzechs does look a bit too girly." Sinbad said, amusement all over his face. "Even when he was a tiny twerp – you could put him into a dress and comb his hair a bit, and no one would ever know he was sporting a sword instead of a sheathe."

"I am _not_ amused, _dear_." Shifra responded with a bite.

They had walked away from the main hall, or more accurately, Shifra had all but done her best to avoid throttling her son as they left the main hall, and Sinbad had playfully ruffled said son's hair, before sending him off to go and mingle. Upon seeing how his wife looked several inches close to positively exploding, Sinbad wisely found themselves a quiet spot away from the festivities, next to a small water fountain, in order to allow the woman to vent.

"Sirzechs seemed to be amused. I would say, all of them were rather amused." Sinbad countered. "People tend to forget that he is a devil like the rest of us, prone and open to jabs and criticism. All they see is his title of 'Lucifer' and they feel he is above reproach. Serafall got so tired of people walking on eggshells around her, she created a show where she's constantly sexually assaulted by tentacles in a magical girl outfit so people can relate with her. I can't imagine how much more worse it must be for Sirzechs."

Shifra frowned. "And what if he had taken offense to Sasuke's comment?"

Sinbad shrugged. "Anyone who gets pointlessly angry or makes a needless fuss because a nine-year old devil called him 'girly' clearly does not possess the temperament or maturity to be a leader. Much less the leader of _devils_."

The mother of Serafall huffed. She hated it when her husband was right. The problem was, he was almost always right, especially about things like this. "Part of me knows that this is your fault."

Sinbad rose an eyebrow. "My fault?"

"That reckless audacity… all of our children get it from you." She said with a sigh.

"Oh? But isn't that what made you fall for me?" Sinbad said, his lips curled.

She rolled her eyes. "Don't remind me." She shook her head. "But at the very least… things did not stray _too_ out of hand. The Gremory family has taken quite a shine to Sasuke now – so it should make future plans far easier."

"Future plans?" Sinbad's voice was tethering towards a dangerously low tone. "Don't tell me you're actually still _planning_ on keeping that agreement with Venelana?"

"And what exactly is wrong with it?" she challenged, "I believe Rias would make a wonderful wife for Sasuke."

"And if he doesn't _want_ Rias?"

"Irrelevant." Shifra dismissed with a wave of her hand. "If he finds a woman who later catches his fancy, he may take her on as a mistress in his harem. However, he _will_ get married to Rias. Their union will bring our families immensely closer together, and cement a permanent alliance between the Sitri Clan and Gremory Clan."

"And what of Rias?" Sinbad asked.

"What of her?"

"Do you not care at all that the daughter of your close friend, the friend of your daughter, might end up marrying someone who will never care for her?"

Shifra exhaled. "I forgot you were such a sentimentalist." She moved towards her husband, trailing her nails and drawing circles on his chest. "Dear, when I first saw you, I despised you with every fiber of my being and wished to have nothing to do with you except to perhaps crush you underfoot like a troublesome cockroach. Now, a few hundred years later, I still find myself smitten and wonder how I would have lived without you."

She smiled. "In time, they will learn to love each other. It may take a hundred years or a thousand, but it will happen." She turned around. "Besides, I'm doing the poor girl a favor. If she does not marry Sasuke, then the only other suitor she will have available will be Riser Phenix – and you have _seen_ how the boy behaves. Sasuke may not be fond of Rias, but at the very least, I can be certain that he will see her as more than a pair of breasts and a tight hole, given how she is Sona's friend."

Sinbad looked at her, before scratching his head and sighing. "I hate it when you're right about these things."

"I knew you would see it my way dear." She said with a pleasant tone. "There is, of course, only one thing left to do before the marriage contract is formalized."

Sinbad rose an eyebrow. "What now?"

"Whereas Venelana could afford giving Rias to the third son of the Phenex family, particularly due to their special family traits… the same cannot quite be said of us. The bond between the Sitri and Gremory Clan must be one made from equal standpoints… so…"

His eyes narrowed. "So…?"

"So… we need to make Sasuke the clan heir."

There was the large sound of something falling, and both Sitri devils rapidly turned their gaze to the direction of a bush. The duo's eyes met, a silent agreement forming as they moved as one.

Sinbad snapped his fingers, and water from the fountain rose, forming into the shape of a large kodachi, immediately slashing apart the bushes in seconds. Shifra waved her hand and more water emerged, turning into an elegant fan, which whooshed away the leaves effortlessly, revealing their eavesdropper.

"S-Sona?" Shifra spoke, baffled, before her eyes narrowed. "Where exactly have you been all evening? And – and – your dress! What happened to your dress? Why were you hiding behind a pair of bushes–"

Now that Shifra thought it over, she realized that her daughter _had_ been missing for a while. It hadn't quite occurred to her because she had been focused on finalizing Sasuke's first ever public appearance… but at the same time, she realized that this had also been Sona's first ever public appearance…

But no one had been interested in her daughter. It was harsh, but Sasuke was far more compelling, visually, charismatically, and essentially. Sona was not fantastically beautiful and well-endowed for her age like Rias Gremory, nor did she possess any special magical abilities or powers like Ravel Phenex – there was almost no reason for anyone to want to speak to her, in comparison to the plethora of reasons they would want to speak or meet her brother, or any of the other young females present.

Sona's only friend – Rias – had been busy trailing after Sasuke all evening. It was clear that she was enamored with the boy… too enamored to have bothered remembering about her friend.

It hurt Shifra to admit it… but Sona was normal. Too normal. Average. The girl's budding intellect was her strongest and most defining feature, but here, intellect meant nothing. To devils, intellect mattered very little, it mattered even less if you were a female devil, if anything, all it did was isolate you even further from the females who would be envious of you, and the males, who would become insecure around you. Sona was a complete contrast to her elder sister, Serafall, who had entered the world and blown everyone away with her cheerful persona and ray-of-sunshine attitude that excellently displayed her extraverted charisma. It also didn't help that Serafall was arguably far more powerful, more talented, and more beautiful as well.

"Are you going to make Sasuke the clan heir?"

There was an uncertain coldness around her question. Shifra didn't quite know where it came from.

"We –"

"We haven't decided anything yet."

Sinbad's voice cut over hers, and she wanted to complain, only to stop at the strong look he sent her.

"Oh." Sona said. "I see."

"Sona –"

"Sorry about the dress mother. I did not mean to do anything which could cause trouble for you. I will remove myself from the premises and wait on the Sitri train."

Sinbad frowned. "Chibi-glasses – wait –"

"Do not worry about me father," Sona said with a calm smile. "I am not too fond of parties, or of large crowds and events. I prefer the peace and quiet. This will also allow me to catch up on some reading."

Both parents could do nothing but watch as their daughter walked away from the area with a deceitfully high level of maturity.

"Dear, you have to stop doing things like this. You cannot shield her from the truth." Shifra said coldly.

"I'm not shielding her from anything, because we haven't _decided_ on _anything_." Sinbad said. "Making him the clan heir would be a slap in Sona's face. It would be telling her that she wasn't enough – she wasn't capable, and that her _younger brother_ could do more than she can."

"And can he not?" Shifra retorted. "I cannot stand hiding the truth from someone in the name of sparing their _feelings_. Daughter of mine or not. The truth remains that Sasuke was born with talent, and she was not. Sasuke was also born male, and she was not. It is unfair, yes, but the world has never been fair to anyone, least of all to devils. The sooner she comes to terms with this, the better."

"Shifra…" Sinbad growled.

"Don't you dare 'Shifra' me. Your sentimentality and misguided notions will be the death of this clan Sinbad. All the time you spend in the human world is making you soft, soft, and stupid." Shifra argued, turning to stare at her husband. "We are _devils,_ Sinbad. _Devils_. A measly hundred thousand years ago, our species ate humans and bathed in the blood of virgins for sustenance. You cannot expect me to avoid making a decision that would guarantee the prosperity and strength of our Clan for thousands of years, merely because it would _hurt my daughter's feelings_. If word got out on our reasoning, we would be the greatest laughing stock in the Underworld."

Sinbad took in a deep breath. He was angry. He was angry because he knew it was true. Devils, devil society – it was cold, harsh, and unforgiving. Before the birth of Sirzechs Lucifer, the Gremory Clan was a clan of laughing-stocks – they were people who viewed their slaves as family, people who treated humans with a degree of compassion and reason, as opposed to merely viewing them as livestock and/or disposable entertainment. Even now, there were absolutely no punishments in place for young devils who went into the human world, kidnapped young women as their slaves, and brought them to the underworld to do as they wished. The very worst one could get would be a half-hearted warning, and that was only if the young devil did it far too frequently, and kidnapped an upwards of over a hundred young girls.

Humans were viewed as animals in one way or another. Half-devils were viewed with scorn and disdain – and the society was not one where you could avoid to do things based on sentiments.

He was afraid that something like this would happen. He just had not expected it to happen so soon.

"So. The family mole becomes the clan heir, and Sona loses what should be hers by inheritance. What becomes of her after you make it clear to her that she's the black sheep of the family?"

"Must you always be so dramatic?" Shifra frowned. "Sona is not the black sheep. Admittedly, she is the least talented child we have, but that still makes her extraordinary. I will give her free reign to find a suitor of her choice… or, if she wishes it, she may undergo a personal internship with Ajuka Beezelbub. She is free to do as she wishes – it is the least I can do for her."

"I don't like this." Sinbad said, voicing his discomfort.

"And you shouldn't," Shifra said, a smile on her lips. "At the very least, if _one_ of us strongly opposes, it should perhaps make things better."

"…"

"It's as I said dear. I cannot stand hiding the truth in the name of sparing someone's feelings. I cannot stand it even if it's _my_ feelings that are to be spared." Shifra said, "I am aware my own children see me as more of a monster than a mother. I haven't done much to correct that assumption – so I cannot blame them. Everything I do – I do out of my love for them... even if it doesn't seem like it. Even if they may not know it."

She shook her head.

"I love Sona. I love her, but I cannot lie to her. I cannot tell her that she is like her siblings when she is not. I cannot fill her heads with ideas of her equality when it is not feasible. Her weaknesses are plenty, and her strengths are few. Her talents are her own – and she may one day go on to become the greatest researcher or scientist ever seen in the Underworld – but for now, she is just a young girl with none of the traits appreciated or valued by society."

Shifra smiled.

"But if she works on those strengths of hers… if she is not daunted by the superiority of her siblings… if she decides to find her own path to the history books – she will be something, truly, spectacular."

Sinbad's lips were unable to stop themselves from curling into a smile. "Now… who's the one being dramatic?"

Shifra laughed. "I suppose I get it from my roguish barbarian of a husband." She said with a smile. "It's a good thing you cut that beard – I don't want you seducing any young women with those looks. It's mine, and mine alone."

Sinbad saluted. "Aye – Aye Ma'am."

"Now, go get your daughter back here, and I'm going to go make sure our son refrains from pointing out the feminity of the strongest man in the underworld. With any luck, we'll be able to _try_ to enjoy ourselves, before the evening is over."


End file.
